Electromechanical coupling based influence of structural error on radiation and scattering performance of array antennas
A new structure and scattering array factor coupling model, for estimating the effect of element position error of active phased-array antenna on its radar cross section (RCS) is established, based on the relationship between structural position error and phase difference. The model greatly reduces the computational complexity of the RCS for the evaluation of array antenna performance. Based on the model, the influence of the element position error on the gain and RCS is analysed with the results showing that a reasonable reduction in element position accuracy may effectively decrease the RCS. Thus, the developed model can be applied in engineering to balance the radiation and scattering properties. With the necessary radiation and scattering performance guaranteed, the antenna processing and installation tolerances can be properly relaxed to effectively reduce the calibration difficulty and cost.