Mechanically Reconfigurable Conformal Array Antenna Fed by Radial Waveguide Divider With Tuning Screws

A conformal array antenna with a reconfigurable radiation pattern in the azimuth plane at Ku band is presented. An eight-faced prism has been set as 3-D antenna structure. The radiating element consists of a rectangular waveguide ended on a slotted cavity. A radial waveguide network (RWGN) fed by a symmetrically placed coaxial probe has been implemented to equally feed each radiating element obtaining an omnidirectional behavior in the azimuth plane. The insertion of several metallic tuning screws (TSs) provides a reconfiguration mechanism of the electric field distribution in the RWGN and modifies the conformal array antenna amplitude feeding. Eight different configurations generating directional radiation patterns can be tuned by means of the insertion of certain TSs. In addition, the symmetrical positioning of them allows performing a main beam scanning every 45° in the azimuth plane. Several prototypes have been manufactured and measured to experimentally validate the antenna performance. A total of 65 different radiation patterns have been experimentally obtained using the proposed TSs, which provides a simple, low-loss, and low-cost reconfigurability mechanism to the presented conformal array antenna.