Simulation of microstrip radio altimeter antenna for aircraft

The purpose of the article is to carry out mathematical modeling of the main characteristics and parameters of a microstrip antenna, the dielectric substrate of which is created from a domestic ceramic sample and to substantiate the use of a microstrip antenna as a transmitting and receiving antenna in a radio altimeter. It is shown that a microstrip antenna on a ceramic material substrate with a relative permittivity ε = 9.6 and a thickness of 0.2 mm has good electrical parameters in the frequency range of 31.5–33.5 GHz. Including the width of the antenna radiation pattern at the level of –3 dB is 12.5 degrees in the horizontal plane and 26.7 degrees in the vertical plane. In this case, the antenna gain is 17 dB and the level of the first side lobe is –20 dB relative to the main antenna lobe. Also the practical application of microstrip array antennas inphase as a transmitting and receiving antenna for a radio altimeter installed on aircraft is described in the article. The range of the altimeter reaches 300 m.