Compact 3D‐printed reflector antenna for radar applications at K‐band

This paper presents a lightweight, cost-efficient, wideband, and high-gain 3D printed parabolic reflector antenna in the Ka-band. A 10 λ reflector is printed with polylactic acid- (PLA-) based material that is a biodegradable type of plastic, preferred in 3D printing. The reflecting surface is made up of multiple stacked layers of copper tape, thick enough to function as a reflecting surface (which is found 4 mm). A conical horn is used for the incident field. A center-fed method has been used to converge the energy in the broadside direction. The proposed antenna results measured a gain of 27.8 dBi, a side lobe level (SLL) of −22 dB, and a maximum of 61.2% aperture efficiency (at 30 GHz). A near-field analysis in terms of amplitude and phase has also been presented which authenticates the accurate spherical to planar wavefront transformation in the scattered field.

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Design of an 9m dual-offset reflector antenna for S-Band weather RADAR applications

Proceedings of the 2012 IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation ◽

10.1109/aps.2012.6349017 ◽

2012 ◽

Author(s):

Robert Hoferer ◽

Roland Schwerdtfeger ◽

V. N. Bringi

Keyword(s):

Weather Radar ◽

Reflector Antenna ◽

Radar Applications

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Additive technology applied to the realization of K-band microwave terminations: reproducibility improvement

International Journal of Microwave and Wireless Technologies ◽

10.1017/s1759078717001404 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 3-8

Author(s):

Azar Maalouf ◽

Ronan Gingat ◽

Vincent Laur

Keyword(s):

3D Printing ◽

Frequency Band ◽

Rectangular Waveguide ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Low Density ◽

Support Material ◽

Additive Technology ◽

3D Printed ◽

K Band

This study examines K-band rectangular waveguide terminations with three-dimensional (3D)-printed loads, and proposes an Asymmetrical Tapered Wedge topology. This geometry shows a good tradeoff between microwave performance and 3D-printing issues (printing directions and support material requirements), thus improving noticeably the reproducibility of the devices. The effect of the density of the 3D-printed load on the reflection parameter of the termination was investigated. Even for a low density, reflection level remained below −27.5 dB between 18 and 26.5 GHz. Reproducibility was demonstrated by the characterization of six loads that were 3D printed under the same conditions. Measurements demonstrate that a maximum reflection parameter level of −33.5 dB can be ensured over the whole frequency band without any post-machining of the 3D-printed devices.

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