Airplane antenna simulations including creeping waves

Antenna placement on large aircraft is one of the most complex challenges in aerospace electromagnetic engineering. This white paper demonstrates how the Simcenter™ Feko™ asymptotic method: faceted uniform theory of diffraction (fUTD) delivers accurate antenna radiation patterns and coupling results across a full-scale aircraft model, including in the most demanding shadow regions of the fuselage.

Shadow regions expose the limits of conventional simulation

Conventional asymptotic simulation methods struggle to produce reliable results in shadow regions, where the aircraft's own structure blocks and bends electromagnetic signals. Creeping waves, which travel along curved surfaces and carry critical signal energy into those hidden zones, are notoriously difficult to model on real-world aircraft geometry. Without accounting for them, antenna performance predictions and co-site interference analyses can fall significantly short.

fUTD delivers validated results

Unlike traditional UTD, fUTD handles creeping waves on arbitrary aircraft geometries, not just idealized mathematical shapes. The white paper presents side-by-side comparisons of fUTD against the rigorous Multilevel Fast Multipole Method (MLFMM) for blade and wing-tip monopole antennas, covering both radiation patterns and antenna coupling. The results show strong agreement across all tested scenarios, including in the deepest shadow regions at low field levels. Engineers gain a validated, computationally efficient path to confident antenna placement decisions.

Download the white paper today to learn more.