Broadband Flexible Microstrip Antenna Array with Conformal Load-Bearing Structure

To enhance the load-bearing mechanical properties and broadband electromagnetic characteristics of the conformal antenna, a broadband microstrip antenna array with a conformal load-bearing structure is proposed in this paper, which consists of three flexible substrate layers and two honeycomb core layers stacked on each other. By combining the antenna and honeycomb core layer in a structural perspective, the antenna array is implemented in the composition function of surface conformability and load-bearing. Additionally, the sidelobe level of the antenna is suppressed based on the reflection surface loaded. Meanwhile, an equivalent model of a honeycomb core layer has been established and applied in the design of a conformal antenna with a load-bearing structure. The presented model increases the accuracy of simulated results and reduces the memory consumption and time of the simulation. The overall size of the proposed antenna array is 32.84 × 36.65 × 4.9 mm (1.36 λ(0) × 1.52 λ(0) × 0.2 λ(0), λ(0) is the wavelength at 12.5 GHz). The proposed antenna element and array have been fabricated and measured in the flat state and under other various bending states. Experiment results show the operating relative bandwidth of the antenna array is 20.68% (11.67–13.76 GHz and 14.33–14,83 GHz) in the flat state. Under different bending conditions, the proposed antenna array covers 24.16% (11.08–14.1 GHz), 23.82% (10.63–13.5 GHz), and 23.12% with 30°, 60°, and 90° in the xoz plane (11.55–14.33 GHz). In terms of mechanical load bearing, the structure has better performance than the traditional single-layer honeycomb core load-bearing structure antenna.