Comparison of additively manufactured and machined antenna array performance at Ka band

• Additive manufacturing (AM) is a rapidly developing field which potentially decreases the manufacturing costs and enables increasingly complex antenna shapes. Metal-based AM might be particularly useful to manufacture antennas at mm-wave range, because there antennas are physically small enough making additive manufacturing cost efficient, and manufacturing accuracy could still suffice for good electrical performance. In this paper, two additively manufactured and an identical machined fully metallic Ka-band Vivaldi antenna arrays are compared. The manufactured antenna arrays are compared using RF-measurements to conclude the feasibility of AM for manufacturing antenna arrays at mm-wave frequencies. Comparison of the measured radiation patterns and realized gains of each of the antenna arrays between 26 and 40 GHz shows close to identical radiation patterns for all the arrays. A loss in efficiency of 0.51.5 dB is observed in the AM arrays when compared to the machined array due to the used materials and the surface roughness. 

Ämnesord

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Elektroteknik och elektronik -- Annan elektroteknik och elektronik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering -- Other Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering (hsv//eng)

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Maskinteknik -- Produktionsteknik, arbetsvetenskap och ergonomi (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Mechanical Engineering -- Production Engineering, Human Work Science and Ergonomics (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik -- Annan fysik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences -- Other Physics Topics (hsv//eng)

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Elektroteknik och elektronik -- Signalbehandling (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering -- Signal Processing (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

5G

additive manufacturing

antenna array

Antenna arrays

Antenna feeds

Antenna measurements

Antenna radiation patterns

Antennas

flared-notch antenna

Manufacturing

millimeter wave

phased array

Powders

tapered slot

Vivaldi antenna

3D printers

5G mobile communication systems

Antenna phased arrays

Directional patterns (antenna)

Microstrip antennas

Microwave antennas

Millimeter waves

Slot antennas

Surface roughness

Antennas measurement

Antennas radiation patterns

Ka band

Manufacturing cost

Notch antennas

Phased-arrays

Tapered slots

Vivaldi antennas

Antenna feeders

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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