Electromagnetic characterization of 3D printed antennas employing conductive filament

Abstract

This work presents the need to accurately define EM characterization of novel materials like the 3D conductive filament. Although these construction techniques and materials are currently used by the industry, the influence of the manufacturing process is still not properly characterized. In this paper, different monopoles are assembled modifying the 3D printing structure when a conductive filament is employed to fabricate the radiating element. Measurements of the S 11 parameter are combined with electromagnetic simulations to determine the different performances of the built antennas. The results highlight that the definition of the printing parameters has a strong influence on the conductivity of the resulting 3D printed monopoles, producing remarkable variations at the antenna performance. Modifying the results from monopoles not suitable to propagate to performances that can produce proper electromagnetic fields.