How to Construct a Conformal Patch Antenna

A method is presented on how to construct a conformal patch antenna in CADFEKO.

The conformal patch antenna consists of a finite dielectric substrate with a metallic (or PEC face) on the top surface and a PEC ground plane at the bottom. The patch is fed with a voltage source on a wire port. The patch antenna will be constructed as if attached to a larger metallic cylinder with a specific radius.


Figure 1. A graphical representation of a conformal patch antenna - top view (left) and bottom view (right).

Dimensions

The patch antenna has the following dimensions:
  • Patch dimensions: 31.1807 mm x 46.748 mm
  • Ground plane: 50 mm x 80 mm
  • Substrate height: 2.87 mm
  • Relative permittivity: 2.2
  • Feed pin location is 8.9 mm from the centre of the model.
  • The patch is bent onto a cylinder of radius 40 mm.
  • Variable alpha is used for the angle subtended by the ground plane at the centre of the cylinder.
  • Variable beta is used for the angle subtended by the patch at the centre of the cylinder.