Thermal characteristics of a Ka-band planar helix slow-wave structure

The thermal analysis of a Ka-band slow-wave structure (SWS) consisting of a planar helix with straight edge connections (PH-SEC) has been carried out using CST as well as ANSYS. The thermal loss of the PH-SEC is calculated first and is used as the heat source in the thermal analysis. The temperature profile and the maximum temperature as a function of the dissipated power have been obtained. It is shown that the maximum temperature for the planar helix SWS is significantly lower than that for a corresponding conventional circular helix.