Telecommunication & System UFR The Dipole Antenna

Chapter one - The Dipole Antenna

I – Introduction

The monopole and dipole antennas are commonly used for broadcasting, cellular
phones, and wireless communications due to their omnidirective property. Thus in
this tutorial, a dipole antenna will be constructed and analyzed using the HFSS
simulator. The example will illustrate both the simplicity and power of HFSS through
construction and simulation of this antenna structure. The following notes will
provide a brief summary of goals.

General navigation of software menus, toolbars, and quick keys.

Variable assignment.
Overview of commands used to create structures.
Proper design and implementation of boundaries.
Analysis Setup.
Report Creation and options.

1- Starting HFSS

- Click the microsoft Démarrer button, Select Programs, and select Ansoft, HFSS
9.2 program group. Click HFSS 9.2.

- Or Double click on the HFSS 9.2 icon on the Windows Desktop.

HFSS 9.lnk

2- Creating the Project

First launch the HFSS Simulator.

Project manager

1
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi 2005 - 2006
Telecommunication & System UFR The Dipole Antenna

From the Project Manager window. Right-Click the project file and select Save As
from the sub menu.

Name the file “dipole” and Click Save.

Note: Before click on “Enregistrer”, always create a personal folder to store all
HFSS projects.

3- Working with geometries

To begin working with geometries.

- you must insert an HFSS design. Right-Click the project file and select Insert
> Insert HFSS Design from the menu.

2
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi 2005 - 2006
Telecommunication & System UFR The Dipole Antenna

- Or click on from the toolbars.

Due to the nature of this design we will use Driven Modal as the solution type.
From the HFSS menu select Solution Type and Driven Modal.

3
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi 2005 - 2006
Telecommunication & System UFR The Dipole Antenna

The units are chosen as mm by choosing the heading 3D modeler and Units from the
menu.

HFSS relies on variables for any parameterization / optimization within the project.
Variables also hold many other benefits which will make them necessary for all
projects.

Fixed Ratios (length, width, height) are easily maintained using variables.
Optimetrics use variables to optimize the design according to user-defined
criteria.
All dimensions can be quickly changed in one window as opposed to altering
each object individually.

Click the HFSS heading and select Design Properties at the bottom of the menu.

4
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi 2005 - 2006
Telecommunication & System UFR The Dipole Antenna

This will open the variable table. Add all variables shown below by selecting Add. Be
sure to include units as needed.

The final variable table should looks like

5
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi 2005 - 2006
Telecommunication & System UFR The Dipole Antenna

4- Drawing the Dipole

We will start to by creating the dipole element using the Draw Cylinder button
from the toolbar.

By default the proprieties dialog will appear after you have finished drawing an
object. The position and size of objects can be modified from the dialog.

6
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi 2005 - 2006
Telecommunication & System UFR The Dipole Antenna

Double click

7
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi 2005 - 2006
Telecommunication & System UFR The Dipole Antenna

Follow the format above for structure size. Give the name dip1 to this object. Assign
the material PEC and click OK. PEC (Perfect Electric Conductor) will create ideal
conditions for the element.

The next step is to build the symmetric of dip1. To do that, Right -Click the drawing
area and select Edit -> Duplicate -> Around Axis.

The dipole structure is illustrated below:

8
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi 2005 - 2006
Telecommunication & System UFR The Dipole Antenna

5- Creating the port

In the section you will create a Lumped Gap Source. This will provide an excitation
to the dipole structure. Begin by selecting the YZ plane from the toolbar. Using the
3D toolbar, click Draw Rectangle and place two arbitrary points within the model
area.
Select YZ plane
Draw rectangle

Enter the following information

9
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi 2005 - 2006
Telecommunication & System UFR The Dipole Antenna

Double Click

Enter the information below

With the source geometry in place, the user must provide an excitation. A lumped port
will be used for the dipole model. This excitation is commonly used when the far field
region is of primary interest. In the project explorer, right-click Excitation -> Assign
-> Lumped Port.

Name the port source and leave the default values for impedance.

10
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi 2005 - 2006
Telecommunication & System UFR The Dipole Antenna

Click Next and enter the following:

Using the mouse, position the cursor to the bottom-center of the port. Ansoft's snap
feature should place the pointer when the user approaches the center of any object.
Left-click to define the origin of the E-field vector. Move the cursor to the top-center
of the port. Left-click to terminate the E-field vector. Click finish to complete the port
excitation.

Note: In case you find some difficulties for drawing the lumped port, you can redraw
the rectangular plane, affect the lumped port, then resize the rectangular plane.

11
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi 2005 - 2006
Telecommunication & System UFR The Dipole Antenna

6- Radiation Boundary

In this section, a radiation boundary is created so that far field information may be
extracted from the structure. To obtain the best result, a cylindrical air boundary is
defined with a distance of /4. From the toolbar, select Draw Cylinder.

Enter the following information:

12
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi 2005 - 2006
Telecommunication & System UFR The Dipole Antenna

With the geometry complete, the actual radiation boundary may now be assigned.
From the 3D toolbar select face from the drop down window as shown below.

Click and select all faces as follow:

With all faces selected, right-click the Boundary icon in the object explorer and select
Boundary -> Assign -> Radiation.

13
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi 2005 - 2006
Telecommunication & System UFR The Dipole Antenna

Leave the default name Rad1 and click OK.

7- Solution Setup

In this section a solution must be defined to display the desired data. We are primarily
interested in the frequency response of the structure. We will also explore HFSS's
ability to calculate general antenna parameters such as directivity, radiation resistance,
radiation efficiency, etc... .
From the project explorer, select Analysis -> Add Solution Setup.

Enter the following. Click ok when complete.

14
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi 2005 - 2006
Telecommunication & System UFR The Dipole Antenna

To view the frequency response of the structure, a frequency sweep must be defined.
From the project explorer select Setup1 -> Add Sweep.

Enter the following

15
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi 2005 - 2006
Telecommunication & System UFR The Dipole Antenna

8- Structure Analysis

At this point, the user should be ready to analyze the structure. Before running the
analysis, always verify the project by selecting from the 3D toolbar. If everything
is correct the user should see:

Analyze the structure by clicking

9- Create Reports

16
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi 2005 - 2006
Telecommunication & System UFR The Dipole Antenna

After completion of the analysis, we will create a report to display both the resonant
frequency and also the radiation pattern. Click on the heading HFSS and select
Results -> Create Reports.

Choose the following in the Create Report window:

Select the following highlighted parameters and click Add Trace to load the options
into the Trace window.

17
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi 2005 - 2006
Telecommunication & System UFR The Dipole Antenna

Click Done when complete.

The graph is displayed below:

HFSS has the ability to compute antenna parameters automatically. In order to

produce the calculations, the user must define an infinite sphere for far field
calculations. Right-click the Radiation icon in the project manager window and

18
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi 2005 - 2006
Telecommunication & System UFR The Dipole Antenna

select Insert Far Field Setup -> Infinite Sphere.

Accept all default parameters and click Done. Right-click Infinite Sphere1 ->
Compute Antenna Parameters... from the project explorer as shown:

Select all defaults and results are displayed as follows:

Next, the far field will be plotted. Create Reports as previously shown. Modify the
following:

19
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi 2005 - 2006
Telecommunication & System UFR The Dipole Antenna

Enter the following:

Select the Mag and enter the following:

20
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi 2005 - 2006
Telecommunication & System UFR The Dipole Antenna

Select Add Trace and click Done when complete. The radiation pattern is displayed
below:

21
O. El Mrabet & M. Essaadi 2005 - 2006