UWB Horn Antenna Array Fabricated in Additive Manufacturing Technology

摘要

This work investigates the capabilities of Additive Manufacturing (AM) technology applied to the fabrication of an ultra-wideband (UWB) horn antenna array that works in the C-X frequency band. A comparison between standard Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) or milling processes and AM is presented considering several parameters such as cost, feasibility, specific weight and process accuracy. The antenna array consists in 3×16 horn antennas having a lattice with alternated shift on the elevation plane to reduce the mutual coupling. The measured performances of the AM array are compared with the CST simulations of the full-copper array. The results demonstrate that, besides the technological advantages, the presented AM process provides electromagnetic equivalence with respect to conventional full metallic arrays.