Influence of Dummy Elements on the Performance of Array Antennas

The influence of dummy elements on the performance of array antennas is studied in this paper. Two array antennas with the same element are designed and simulated. One of them has dummy elements and the other has no dummy elements. Comparing the active standing-wave ratios of them, the introduction of dummy elements can effectively improve the characteristics of marginal excited elements, especially when the antenna scans at a large angle. Comparing the radiation performance of them, dummy elements weaken the radiation fields of marginal excited elements and reduce the gain because the energy coupling from marginal excited elements to dummy elements is largely absorbed by the load.