Conformal Antenna: Advantages and Disadvantages

This page covers the advantages and disadvantages of conformal antennas, outlining their benefits and drawbacks.

What is a Conformal Antenna?

Introduction: A conformal antenna is designed to conform to a specific shape. It’s a type of phased array antenna.

Its mechanical design makes it suitable for mounting on curved surfaces. This makes it useful in a wide range of applications, including:

• Aerospace designs
• Wearable antennas
• Mobile devices
• Spacesuits

Here are some key features:

• Gain: Controllable and dependent on the shape.
• Angular coverage: Very wide, offering hemispherical coverage.
• RCS (Radar Cross Section): Lower compared to planar antenna types.
• Installation: Structurally integrated, saves space, and reduces drag.
• Radome: No conventional radome needed, eliminating bore sight error.

Advantages of Conformal Antennas

The following are the benefits of using a conformal antenna:

• Increased Field of View (FOV) compared to traditional antennas, offering coverage beyond the typical +/- 60 degrees.

Disadvantages of Conformal Antennas

Here are the drawbacks of using a conformal antenna:

• Complex design.
• The substrate surface changes over time during operation.
• When the antenna surface is planar, it behaves normally. However, in non-planar orientations, the radiation pattern can become distorted.