Analysis of Blockage Effects in a Center‐Fed Reflectarray

Three quick methods that account for the blockage effects in a center‐fed reflectarray antenna design are presented. The first method simply adds the radiation pattern of the reflectarray on the passive feed horn antenna. For the second approach, the blockage is incorporated more accurately by introducing shadows on the reflectarray surface according to the location of the obstacles. The third approach places a physical metal sheet at the blocking obstacle on the main reflectarray surface. The radiation pattern of the complete antenna structure is also calculated using a full‐wave solver that also serves as a reference for accuracy comparison. To further validate the results, prototype reflectarray antennas based on two types of radiation elements are fabricated and the measured patterns are compared with predictions.