Hybrid Additive Manufacturing of a Dielectric Resonator Phased Array Antenna at K Band
Simon P. Hehenberger (Microwave Sensing, Signals & Systems, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR))
Aparna P.T. Adithyababu (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR))
Stefano Caizzone (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR))
Yanki Aslan (Microwave Sensing, Signals & Systems)
Alexander Yarovoy (Microwave Sensing, Signals & Systems)
More Info
expand_more
Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.
Abstract
This study explores the feasibility of using a hybrid additive manufacturing (AM) to design and produce low-cost, wideband phased array antennas for SatCom applications. We demonstrate the design, fabrication and experimental verificatino of an eight-element linear array comprised of multi-mode dielectric resonator antennas (DRAs) providing full coverage of the K-band SatCom downlink bandwidth (17.7-21.2 GHz). The impact of print settings on material properties is assessed and incorporated into the antenna design process. The manufactured prototype is experimentally verified via impedance and far-field measurements. Furthermore, beam steering capabilities are demonstrated using a commercially available integrated circuit and a simple calibration procedure. The phased array antenna achieves full coverage of the intended band with an input reflectino coefficient below -10 dB. The averaged embedded element pattern demonstrates a realized gain of approximately 3 dB and a half-power beamwidth of 81 degrees. These results highlight the potential of combining hybrid AM and DRA technologies for future mmWave phased array development.