Hybrid 3-D finite element/MoM analysis for antennas with thin dielectric cover

A hybrid 3D finite element/method of moments (MoM) method is developed to analyse various antennas that include arbitrarily shaped radiators or feed structures and a thin dielectric layer with or without printed conductors. Structural and material complexity in the radiator and feed structure are easily analysed with FEM while the thin dielectric cover is accounted for by the MoM analysis. This avoids the need to discretize the thin substrate region and rigorously satisfies the radiation condition. Equivalent currents in the MoM analysis are expanded in terms of a triangular basis function that is a simple modification of the edged-based triangular elements used in FEM. Common triangular support and functional form for both the FEM and MoM domain may be more convenient to implement than using alternative elements. The hybrid method is developed and applied to a generic 3-D antenna.