Effect and experiment of curvature radius of 3-D printed conformal load-bearing antenna array on EM performance

摘要

Prototypes of a special conformal load-bearing antenna array (CLAA) whichhas nondevelopable surface, are designed, fabricated, and tested, and the effectof the substrate curvature radius on its EM performance is also researched inthis work. A novel three-dimensional (3-D) printing technology and fabricationequipment based on micro-droplet spraying and metal laser sintering areproposed to create patch array and divider network on a non-developablecurved rigid substrate. In order to compare with conventional technology(such as chemical etching), a planar CLAA prototype with two patches, operatingfrequency at 5GHz, is designed and fabricated by two different technologies,the surface roughness, fabrication tolerance, and EM performance aretested and compared. Finally, a spherical CLAA prototype with eight patches,operating frequency at 13GHz, is designed and fabricated by the novel 3Dprinting, measured EM performance demonstrate the applicability of additivemanufacturing for this special CLAA.