80 % seminar: Asymptotic Behaviour in Large Array Antennas

Elements in large periodic structures such as array antennas are often modelled as if they were part of an infinite structure. Established rules of thumb indicate when this approximation is reasonable, and theoretical results describe how element behaviour should converge as the array grows. But how accurate are these assumptions in practice? How closely do finite-array models follow the predicted asymptotic behaviour? And can this be estimated before carrying out large-scale simulations?

These questions have been the focus of my research since the 50% seminar and form the basis of this seminar.

I will begin with a brief overview of the computational tools we have written and used to simulate large array antennas, and the improvements made to extend their capabilities. I will then present the results obtained so far and discuss their implications for the analysis and design of large finite arrays.