Passive Compensation of Beam Shift in a Bending Array

An array of conformal antenna structures mounted on a bending surface exhibits a substantial shift in main beam direction. This paper demonstrates a method to compensate for the induced beam shift by using the change in length of the surface produced by the bend. This change in length modifies the capacitance in a composite right/left-handed transmission (CRLHTL) line, causing a phase shift in the line. A potential implementation is proposed that can correct an 18o beam shift with only an induced change in length of 0.144%. The paper establishes that this passive compensation concept is feasible and provides significant benefits over active compensation systems in terms of weight reduction, cost, simplification and the ability to operate in radio silence.