Mechanical Tension Effects on Cylindrical Truncated-Corner Microstrip Antennas

The experimental characterization of the mechanical tension effects on a 2.25-GHz probe-fed rectangular truncated-corner microstrip antenna conformed on a cylindrical surface is presented in this work. Two prototypes were designed and built for a metallic cylinder with a diameter of 12.55 centimeters. The first antenna was used to characterize the effects of mechanical tension considering the manufacture after etch stress relief effect. A comparison between simulated and experimental results for the first prototype showed that the conformed patch is elongated along the curvature of the metallic cylinder by 0.56 millimeters. The patch elongation was then compensated on the second prototype. Experimental data proved that the elongation was characterized correctly.