TRANSIENT BEHAVIOR OF RADIATING ELEMENTS.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the transient behavior of various radiating elements used in radar phased array systems such as the dipole, the loop, the log-periodic, the slot, the horn, and the spiral antennas. Both the driving point impulse response and the step modulated response in the far field are evaluated experimentally and theoretically. The radiating elements are divided into two classes the bent wire radiators and the aperture type antennas for example - the dipole and the waveguide horn, respectively. A new empirical theory of radiation and reflection from bent wire antennas is presented and computer programs are offered. The dp and far field responses of certain bent wire elements, namely the monopole, the dipole above a ground plane the element used frequently in array systems, the loop, the log-periodic and the spiral are evaluated. In addition, the dp responses of a biconical antenna waveguide horn and slot radiators are presented. Both the theoretical and experimental portions of this study employ a time domain analysis as opposed to the conventional frequency domain approach. It is shown that a time domain analysis yields considerable insight and suggests network models which can be verified experimentally.