Active Electronically Scanned Array Antenna Design Optimization Based on Taguchi Method

Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar has all-weather and all-day capability of earth observation. And all countries attach great importance to the development of AESA radar. The antenna is the main component of AESA radar, and it even can weigh 85 percent of a satellite, so its rigidity has more and more obvious influence on the whole satellite during the launching process. With the increasing of the weight of the antenna, the contradiction between its weight and rigidity becomes more prominent. In this paper, in order to optimize the rigidity of the antenna, finite element software was used and a detailed finite element model of AESA antenna was established. Then several structural factors of antenna, like the fixed position, the height of the main beam etc., were analysed respectively. The relatively important factors were selected, and the Taguchi method was used to establish L16(45) orthogonal analysis table using those factors. Finally, the significance of these important structure factors affecting AESA antennas and their optimal combination were obtained.