CST Models of Spherical Antenna Structures

Steven Weiss and Gregory Mitchell

Army Research Lab
2800 Powder Mill Road, Adelphi, MD 20783
steven.j.weiss14.civ@mail.mil, gregory.a.mitchell1.civ@mail.mil
Abstract This paper details some of the
modeling aspects required for the computational
simulation of spherical antennas using Computer
Simulation Technology (CST) 3D electromagnetic
software. This particular type of antenna has a
radiating structure that is placed over a conducting
sphere. The construction of the antenna is such
that the inside of the sphere is isolated leaving the
volume inside the sphere devoid of any
electromagnetic fields. Simulations and some
preliminary measurements show potential for
antenna size reductions.

mechanical support to maintain a gap between the

concentric spherical structures. The outer radius of
the inner sphere is 5.875 inches while the inner
radius of the outer hemisphere(s) is 6 inches. The
angular span of each outside cap, starting at the
center of the short, is 85.23 degrees.

Index Terms conducting shell, omnidirectional

antennas, spherical antennas.

I. INTRODUCTION
The type of antenna modeled and discussed in
this paper is shown in Fig. 1. The antenna consists
of an inner conducting sphere and two conducting
hemispheres. The hemispheres have a slightly
larger radius allowing them to be placed over the
inner conducting sphere without touching. There is
a small gap between the two hemispheres that
serves as the radiating aperture. The structure is
fed with SMA probes as shown in the diagram.
The construction of the antenna is such that the
inner volume is devoid of electromagnetic fields;
consequently, no energy is stored within the inner
sphere [1].
The structure itself was modeled using CST
with two feeds as shown in the diagram. The
feeds are symmetrically opposite located at 27 and
207 degrees as shown in Fig. 1. The top and
bottom of the outer hemispherical structures are
shorted to the inner sphere at angular positions of
0 and 180 degrees respectively. In the physical
construction, this short provides the needed

Fig. 1. A spherical antenna consisting of a closed

inner conducting sphere surrounded by two nearly
hemispherical conducting shells.

II. CST SIMULATIONS

Some meshing considerations for this structure
are shown in Fig. 2. In Fig. 2a, the global free
space mesh is o/20. This is a hexahedral mesh
that resolves the individual mesh cells as a sixsided cube. The figure only shows the mesh for
half of the entire structure. In Fig. 2b, we see the
mesh of the pin feed and the short to the outer
sphere are locally meshed to obtain at least a 3mesh cell resolution across the PEC element. The
Teflon component (shown in red) is meshed
achieving a 10-mesh cell resolution across the
smallest feature size of the dielectric. Each of

these is a higher resolution than the global o/20

mesh.

(a)

(b)

When the two probes were fed in phase, CST

simulations predict antenna to resonate at 174 and
440 MHz. The measured resonances were found at
frequencies of 195 and 460 MHz as seen in Fig. 3.
Analytical calculations of the lower resonance
(presuming each cavity is independent) fail to
account for the lower resonant frequency.
Analytical models that include mutual coupling
between the two shells are under investigation to
resolve this discrepancy. At the higher resonant
frequency, a bi-directional pattern is predicted as
shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 2. Mesh details for half of the spherical

structure (a) and mesh details for the shorting pin
as well as for the probe feed (b).
Analytic details for determining the resonant
frequencies of the structure (considering each shell
to be an independent resonant cavity) may be
found in [2]. In brief, the resonances are found as
follows. For integer orders ( =0,1,2,... ) of the
associated Legendre function Pv (cos ) , one
numerically determines the degree(s) v, for which:
d
(1)
P (cos )
= 0
d

=0

The lowest resonant frequency, associated with the

lowest degree v, is approximated by:
c
(2)
f =
v (v +1)
res

2 a

where c is the speed of light in free space and a =

5.875. For the geometry of the cavities discussed
in this paper, we have: v = 1.0455, and fres = 468
MHz.

Fig. 3. Simulated and measured frequencies.

Fig. 4. Simulated radiation pattern when the two

feed points are in phase.
When the two probes were fed in 180 degrees
out of phase, CST simulations predict antenna to
resonate at a much lower frequency of 174 MHz.
An omnidirectional pattern is predicted by CST.

III. CONCLUSION
This paper discusses an interesting class of
antennas that are spherical in construction. The
simulation of the resonant antenna mode at 440
MHz agrees with measured data and analytical
predictions. Measurements of the antenna at the
lowest resonance mode where the antenna has an
omnidirectional pattern will be examined.
REFERENCES
[1] S. J. Weiss and G. A Mitchell, Measurement of
resonant antenna structures with canonical
spherical contours residing over conduction
spheres and hemispheres, Antennas and
Propagation (APURSI), 2014 IEEE International
Symposium, Memphis, TN, July 2014.
[2] S. Weiss, H. Cohl, and A. Boliong, Measurement
and analysis of the lowest resonant mode of a
spherical annular-sector patch antenna, IET
Proceedings
Microwaves,
Antennas
and
Propagation, August 2014.