A K / Ka ‐band dielectric and metallic 3D printed aperture shared multibeam parabolic reflector antenna for satellite communication

Abstract

A K/Ka‐band (22‐33 GHz) high‐gain aperture shared multibeam parabolic reflector antenna is proposed. It performs a two‐dimensional beam scanning from a shared single parabolic reflector by introducing off‐focal feeds. The feed array is placed on and off the focal of the parabolic reflector. Traditionally, the feed blockage has a great impact on the performance of the antenna, which reduces the gain and increases the sidelobe level. The purpose of this paper is to suppress the negative effects of feed blockage by using hybrid material processing method. Both dielectric and metallic 3D printing technologies are used for antenna fabrication. The parabolic reflector antenna is printed by selective laser melting using aluminum alloy. The feed array and the supporting structures are printed by stereolithography apparatus in resin to control the blockage. The method helps to suppress the sidelobe level from −10 to −15 dB and to enhance gain by up to 2.3 dBi. The reflection coefficient is less than −10 dB, while the coupling coefficient between the ports is less than −20 dB over the entire designed band. At 31.5 GHz, the simulated maximum gain of the antenna are 30.7, 29.1, and 29.7 dBi, when different port separately excites. Multiple beams at ±15° and 0° are observed on both E‐ and H‐planes. Besides, it also verifies the possibility to use dielectric and metallic 3D printing technologies in hybrid for microwave device fabrication.

Planar dual‐polarized differentially fed multibeam patch antenna array

“…On account of the advantage that it can cover a wide area with a number of high directivity radiation beams, the MBAs play an important role in the fifth generation (5G) mobile communication application technologies 1–4 . After years of development, there are a lot of MBAs reported, which have a variety of structures and forms such as MBAs loaded lens, MBAs based on beamforming network 5–9 . These MBAs have good performance of 1‐ or 2‐D scanning capacity, high gain and wide beam coverage.…”

“…[1][2][3][4] After years of development, there are a lot of MBAs reported, which have a variety of structures and forms such as MBAs loaded lens, MBAs based on beamforming network. [5][6][7][8][9] These MBAs have good performance of 1-or 2-D scanning capacity, high gain and wide beam coverage. Nevertheless, the MBAs mentioned above can only radiate a single polarization of electromagnetic waves.…”

3D ‐printed reflector antenna and metallization in Ka‐band

“…With the popularity of 3D printed technology, many devices have been manufactured. These include fused deposition modeling (FDM), [8][9][10] selective laser sintering (SLS), 11 selective laser melting (SLM), 12 direct metal laser sintering (DMLS), [13][14] and stereoscopic light apparatus (SLA), [15][16][17] and so on. Generally speaking, FDM can use materials with low-microwave loss, but will produce poor printed resolution and rough surface finish.…”

A metallic 3D printed miniaturized circularly polarized log periodic Koch‐dipole array antenna

“…In this letter, a circularly polarized log periodic Koch‐dipole array (CPLPKDA) antenna working at 2.1 to 3 GHz is introduced for the WLAN application. Taking the advantage of 3D printing technology to fabricate complex structures, design of the CPLPKDA is no longer limited to a planar scale 21‐24 . We propose a three‐dimensional CPLPKDA that is only possible to be fabricated by 3D printing technology.…”

“…Taking the advantage of 3D printing technology to fabricate complex structures, design of the CPLPKDA is no longer limited to a planar scale. [21][22][23][24] We propose a three-dimensional CPLPKDA that is only possible to be fabricated by 3D printing technology. The CP electromagnetic (EM) wave is generated by two pairs of dipoles that are orthogonally deployed along the feeding line.…”