COMSATS Institute of Information Technology

Department of Electrical Engineering (Islamabad Campus)

EEE-463
Antenna and Radio Wave Propagation

LAB # 9

Propagation modes, Cutoff Frequency

And
Wavelength in waveguide

Lab Instructor: Ibtisam Aslam

Spring 2018 Antenna and Radio Wave Propagation

Objective:
 Learn the theory of waveguide.
 Using HFSS, simulate an air-filled WR-90 waveguide
 Experiment the propagation characteristics of microwave in free
space as well as in waveguide.

Pre Lab
In electromagnetic and communications engineering, the term waveguide may refer to any linear structure
that conveys electromagnetic waves between its endpoints. However, the original and most common
meaning is a hollow metal pipe used to carry radio waves. This type of waveguide is used as a transmission
line mostly at microwave frequencies, for such purposes as connecting microwave transmitters and
receivers to their antennas, in equipment such as microwave ovens, radar sets, satellite communications,
and microwave radio links.

1. Propagation Modes
An electromagnetic field can propagate along a waveguide in various ways. Two common modes are
known are:
 Transverse-magnetic (TM) - the magnetic lines of flux are perpendicular to the axis of the
waveguide
 Transverse-electric (TE) - the electric lines of flux are perpendicular to the axis of the
waveguide

The mode with the lowest cutoff frequency is called the fundamental mode or dominant mode. For a
hollow rectangular waveguide, the dominant mode is TE10.
Metal waveguides cannot support the TEM ('transverse electric and magnetic' - when Ez and Hz are zero)
mode. There exists no solution to Maxwell's equations that also satisfy the required boundary conditions
for this mode to occur.

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Lab-09 Propagation modes, Cutoff Frequency & Wavelength in waveguide
Spring 2018 Antenna and Radio Wave Propagation

2. Cutoff Frequency
First and possibly most importantly, this waveguide has a cutoff frequency 𝑓𝑐 . The cutoff frequency is the
frequency at which all lower frequencies are attenuated by the waveguide, and above the cutoff frequency
all higher frequencies propagate within the waveguide. The cutoff frequency defines the high-pass filter
characteristic of the waveguide: above this frequency, the waveguide passes power, below this frequency
the waveguide attenuates or blocks power.
The cutoff frequency depends on the shape and size of the cross section of the waveguide. The larger the
waveguide is, the lower the cutoff frequency for that waveguide is. The formula for the cutoff frequency
of a rectangular cross sectioned waveguide is given by:

Every mode that can exist within the waveguide has its own cutoff frequency. That is, for a given mode
to propagate, the operating frequency must be above the cutoff frequency for that mode. The cutoff
frequency for the TEmn mode is given by:

To give an example of the cutoff frequencies of various modes, let's consider a standard x-band waveguide,
with dimensions of a=0.9" (22.86 mm) and b=0.4" (10.16 mm). Assuming the waveguide is filled with air
(or a vacuum), then the cutoff frequencies for various modes are given in the following table:
Cutoff Frequency for TEmn Modes in an X-band Rectangular Waveguide
Mode Cutoff
TE10 6.56 GHz
TE20 13.1 GHz
TE01 14.8 GHz
TE11 16.2 GHz
TE30 19.7 GHz
TE21 19.8 GHz
TE02 29.5 GHz

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Lab-09 Propagation modes, Cutoff Frequency & Wavelength in waveguide
Spring 2018 Antenna and Radio Wave Propagation

Q1- Consider a length of air-filled copper X-band waveguide, with dimensions a=22.86mm, b=10.16mm.
Find the cut-off frequencies of the first four propagating modes.

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Lab-09 Propagation modes, Cutoff Frequency & Wavelength in waveguide
Spring 2018 Antenna and Radio Wave Propagation

Task-1:
 Using HFSS, simulate an air-filled WR-90 waveguide

Fig: X-Band waveguide

1. Draw a Hallow Box (Wave Guide)

o Select material: Air
o Draw a box named: Air

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Lab-09 Propagation modes, Cutoff Frequency & Wavelength in waveguide
Spring 2018 Antenna and Radio Wave Propagation

2. Draw a metallic Body

o Select material: Copper
o Draw a box named: Metal

3. Draw a Radiation Box

o Select material: Air
o Draw a box named: Radiation

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Lab-09 Propagation modes, Cutoff Frequency & Wavelength in waveguide
Spring 2018 Antenna and Radio Wave Propagation

4. Make a Hallow waveguide

o Select Metal and Air  Subtract Metal from Air

Fig: Metallic Waveguide

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Lab-09 Propagation modes, Cutoff Frequency & Wavelength in waveguide
Spring 2018 Antenna and Radio Wave Propagation

5. Draw a Box inside the Metallic Body

o Select material: Vacuum
o Draw a box named: Air1

6. Assign Radiation to Radial Box

7. Create Wave Port Excitations

o Assign wave_port Excitation to both faces of Air1
o Select modes: 4

Fig: Wave Port Excitation

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Lab-09 Propagation modes, Cutoff Frequency & Wavelength in waveguide
Spring 2018 Antenna and Radio Wave Propagation

8. Create an Analysis Setup

 Define Solution Setup and Frequency Sweep and analyze the model you have created.
 Solution Frequency: 15 GHz
 Maximum Number of Passes: 20
 Maximum Delta S per Pass: 0.02
o Sweep Type: Fast.
o Frequency Setup Type: Linear Count.
Start: 4 GHz
Stop: 20 GHz
Count: 402

9. Reports

 Create Rectangular Plot (Category: gamma)

Name X Y XY Plot 1 HFSSDesign1

400.00
m1 6.5935 0.0295 Curve Info
m2 13.0973 0.0413 im(Gamma(p1:1))
m3 14.7731 0.0608 Setup1 : Sw eep
350.00 im(Gamma(p1:2))
m4 16.1297 0.5808
Setup1 : Sw eep
im(Gamma(p1:3))
300.00 Setup1 : Sw eep
im(Gamma(p1:4))
Setup1 : Sw eep
250.00
Y1

200.00

150.00

100.00

50.00

m1 m2 m3 m4
0.00
4.00 6.00 8.00 10.00 12.00 14.00 16.00 18.00 20.00
Freq [GHz]

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Lab-09 Propagation modes, Cutoff Frequency & Wavelength in waveguide
Spring 2018 Antenna and Radio Wave Propagation

 Plot Field E vector_E plot

 Plot Field H vector_H plot

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Lab-09 Propagation modes, Cutoff Frequency & Wavelength in waveguide
Spring 2018 Antenna and Radio Wave Propagation

Critical Analysis / Conclusion:

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Lab-09 Propagation modes, Cutoff Frequency & Wavelength in waveguide