Heuristic Best-Fitting-Paraboloid Method for Gravity-Distorted Reflector Antennas

This article presents a heuristic best-fitting-paraboloid (BFPH) method, tailored for reflector antennas subject to gravitational distortion. First, the best fitting problem is formulated a nonlinear least-squares problem (NLSP) for the distorted reflector, wherein three heuristic rules (DRs), crucial for the problem at hand, are derived based on two typical distortion modes observed in antennas. Then, a suitable optimization algorithm is employed to solve the NLSP, in which a customized strategy is developed for the definition of the initial value in order to guarantee effective and reliable final solutions. A set of numerical results are reported and discussed to demonstrate the superior performance of the BFPH method in comparison to existing state-of-the-art methods. More specifically, it supplies higher antenna gain, reduced pointing error, enhanced robustness, and better symmetry in the far-field pattern.