Study of the electric field and power density distributions of flare dipole arrays for high power applications

An electrically-large, low-band phased array antenna architecture utilizing flare dipole antennas was modeled and simulated using an efficient, full-wave, three- dimensional, electromagnetics method of moments (MoM) code. Specifically, the power density and electric field distributions were analyzed as input to the individual antennas were varied from low (100 Watts) to high (1000 Watts) power. The response in the very nearfield (the vicinity of the feed and antenna elements) was quantified to determine the probability of arcing, charge sparking, and electrical discharge. It was determined that the power density distribution is concentrated principally in the small feed area, whereas the electric fields tend to be more distributed. Furthermore, simulation data revealed that the relationship between input power and electric field is not linear. The rapid decrease in electric field as one goes further away from the ground plane will determine the keep-out zone and safety precautions needed when testing a fully-active array.