Conformal arrays of double-sided printed dipoles

Low pmNe printed antennas are an attractive solution for coniormal appiications. This paper presents design and measured results of two X-band conformal arrays of 4 x 4 printed dipoles. The radiating elements were printed on both sides of a thin and flexible substrate and then wraped around a conducting cylinder of small radius (a % 1.5xo) with a honeycomb spacer (a, % 1, k = 0.15Xo) in between. This structure allows for large bandwidth while minimizing surface-wave and network radiation losses [I]. The dipoles orientation is a x i a l for one antenna (Fig. 1) and azimuthal for the second one (Fig. 2). A theory developed for the analysis of printed antennas on cyIiidricaI bodies 121, [3] was used to maximize the directivity in t of the inter-element spacing. The experimental results including: radiation patterns, gains (17-18 dB) and bandwidths (15-20%) show the ability to achieve broadband arrays with gains and patterns in reasonable agreement with theoretical predictions.