Influence of Antenna Element Position Deviation on Radiation Performance of Helical Antenna Array

The electrical performance of the feed array is degraded because of the position deviation of the array elements caused by manufacturing and processing, which cannot meet the high performance feeding requirements of large feed arrays. In this paper, a radiation field model of the helical antenna array considering the position deviation of array elements is proposed to investigate the influence law of position deviation on the electrical performance of the feed array. With the established model, the rectangular planar array and the circular array of the helical antenna with a radiating cup are discussed and the relationship between electrical performance index and position deviation is established by numerical analysis and curve fitting method. The research results show that the position deviation of the antenna array elements will lead to the rise of the sidelobe level, the deviation of the beam pointing, and the increase of the return loss. The valuable simulation results provided by this work can be used in antenna engineering, guiding antenna designers to set optimal parameters when fabricating antennae.