3D Printed Metallic Dual-Polarized Vivaldi Arrays on Square and Triangular Lattices

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel, cost-effective method for fabricating dual-polarized Vivaldi antenna arrays using 3D metal printing, demonstrating comparable performance to traditional methods with simplified manufacturing.

Contribution

It presents the first monolithic 3D-printed metallic Vivaldi arrays on square and triangular lattices, including a dual-polarized array on a triangular lattice, with integrated connectors and modular design.

Findings

Arrays operate at 3-20 GHz with 60-degree scan angles.

Fabrication process is significantly simplified and faster.

Performance is comparable to traditional Vivaldi arrays.

Abstract

We report the first Vivaldi arrays monolithically fabricated exclusively using commercial, low-cost, 3D metal printing (direct metal laser sintering). Furthermore, we developed one of the first dual-polarized Vivaldi arrays on a triangular lattice, and compare it to a square lattice array. The triangular lattice is attractive because it has a 15.5% larger cell size compared to the square lattice and can be more naturally truncated into a wide range of aperture shapes such as a rectangle, hexagon, or triangle. Both arrays operate at 3-20 GHz and scan angles out to 60 degree from normal. The fabrication process is significantly simplified compared to previously published Vivaldi arrays since the antenna is ready for use directly after the standard printing process is complete. This rapid manufacturing is further expedited by printing the 'Sub-Miniature Push-on, Micro' (SMPM) connectors directly onto the radiating elements, which simplifies assembly and reduces cost compared to utilizing discrete RF connectors. The arrays have a modular design that allow for combining multiple sub-arrays together for arbitrarily increasing the aperture size. Simulations and measurement show that our arrays have similar performance as previously published Vivaldi arrays, but with simpler fabrication.