Fully integrated design of a probe‐fed open‐ended waveguide filtering antenna using 3‐D printing technology

Abstract

This article presents a fully integrated design of probe-fed open-ended waveguide filtering antenna by adopting 3-D printing technology. As for the conventional processing technologies such as computer numerical control machining, they usually suffer from mutually separated parts and inquire post-processing assembly in the fabrication of complex waveguide structure. Compared with them, the 3-D printing technology can provide possibility to directly form an all-in-one architecture after reasonable design to avoid unexpected concave, thus eliminating the error caused by assembly as can as possible. In this article, the aforementioned manufacture strategy has been successfully applied to waveguide filtering antenna. By adopting a tilted setting in selective laser melting process that is a kind of 3-D printing technologies, the proposed waveguide antenna with internal structure can be fabricated without flaw and extra supporter. The probe-fed waveguide antenna is designed herein by reforming the first-and last-order cavities of a waveguidefed metal-insert filter to achieve similar filtering characteristics. This design offers a feasible example of all-in-one waveguide filtering antenna and can be extended to other waveguide components. K E Y W O R D S3-D printing technology, all-in-one architecture, selective laser melting, waveguide filtering antenna

A Monolithically Printed Filtering Waveguide Aperture Antenna

“…However, the performance sensitivity of filtering antennas to the fabrication tolerance and fabrication cost remains as two significant challenges. In [17][18][19], the 3-D printing techniques have adapted for the design of narrow bandwidth filtering antennas. It should be mentioned that the 3-D printing technique has numerous advantages over conventional techniques such as making the whole filtering antenna device out of a single piece.…”

Compact Substrate Integrated Waveguide Filtering Antennas: A Review

“…Comparing with other filters, it has better filtering characteristics, and it is easier to form multi-pass bands. However, as each resonant cavity cascade usually forms a metal waveguide FA, it usually has a lamination for its size and gain in the design [23]- [30]. The microstrip FA utilizes the patch antenna as the last stage of the resonator, or etches a specially shaped slot on the top to diffuse the energy outward.…”