Full-wave analysis of antenna-array mutual coupling using the FETI-DPEM algorithm

The engineering design of antenna arrays requires the knowledge of the mutual coupling within and/or between antenna arrays, which is typically obtained by expensive and time-consuming measurements due to the limited capability of computational methods. Therefore, an efficient numerical method is highly desirable for such problems to speed up the design process, reduce the cost, and expand the optimization space. Recently, a nonoverlapping domain decomposition method, named the electromagnetic dual-primal finite-element tearing and interconnecting (FETI-DPEM) algorithm, has been developed for the finite-element analysis of three-dimensional (3D) electromagnetic problems, which has been demonstrated to be numerically scalable with respect to the mesh size, the number of sub-domains, and the working frequency. In this paper, the FETI-DPEM algorithm is applied to the numerical analysis of mutual coupling within and/or between antenna arrays. More specifically, the mutual coupling between antenna arrays at the presence of a platform is studied. The received power at one array due to the scanning operation of the other array is computed from the calculated scattering parameters.