Integrated Computer Aided Design (CAD) Package for Designing Precision Antennas

This proposed effort has the ultimate objective of developing an integrated antenna element design tool -- where structural, thermal and electromagnetic (EM) analyses are applied to a common geometrical model of the antenna. Our basic approach is to utilize a tetrahedral finite-element representation of the antenna as a commn model for the analyses. A user would begin with a canonical or baseline representation of the antenna, composed of solids and surfaces within a CAD tool environment. The user then applies structural and/or thermal boundary conditions, meshes appropriately and analyzes for structural deformations and/or thermal gradients. The resulting model (no longer the baseline antenna) would then be re-meshed with tetrahedral elements with appropriate electromagnetic dielectric properties (temperature sensitive) and boundary conditions applied. A finite-element/boundary integral electromagnetic analysis then computes the impact on gain and VSWR due to the mechanical and thermal stresses placed on the antenna. Anticipated Benefits/Potential Applications - The results of this program will be a demonstrated architecture and design methodology for a precision antenna CAD tool.