Determining the area of existence of reliability indicators depending on the acceptable values of the performance indicators of the active phased array antenna

Abstract

The paper considers the determination of the range of possible values of the reliability indicators of active phased array antennas (APAA) of multifunctional radars. The modernized probabilistic-physical model of the APAA reliability is presented in the form of a system of restrictions on the values of the antenna array efficiency indicators: the relative radiation power and the minimum level of the near side lobes of the amplitude-phase distribution of the APAA beam pattern. It is shown that during operation, the values of the APAA efficiency indicators can be in the field of operable or in the field of inoperative states, which in general can be represented as an mG, mS matrix. A structural diagram of the APAA reliability in the form of a three-level hierarchical structure is proposed. The author refined the criteria for failures and presented two new definitions of failures of APAA. The formulas and equations for calculating the mean time between failures and the probability of failure-free operation of the phased sublattice antenna and the APAA as a whole have been clarified. The application of the upgraded probabilistic-physical model of the APAA reliability is illustrated by an example of the calculation of a hypothetical APAA having 6400 SCDs arranged in 100 antenna sublattices. It is assumed that failures of the control panel, receiver modules and secondary power supplies are distributed exponentially. The results of calculations of reliability indicators are presented in the form of figures and a matrix of APAA states with a size of 10 × 15. Based on the results of consideration of the calculation of the matrix elements, the fields of operating conditions and the fields of nonoperable conditions of the APAA are determined. The modernized probabilistic-physical model of the APAA reliability proposed in the paper can be useful in the design and operation of multifunctional radars.