Fabrication and impact performance of three-dimensionally integrated microstrip antennas with microstrip and coaxial feeding

Abstract

A conformal load-bearing antenna structure (CLAS) combines the antenna into a composite structure such that it can carry the designed load while functioning as an antenna. In this paper, two types of new 3D integrated microstrip antennas (3DIMAs) with different feeding methods are designed to work at the radar L-band. Different from the conventional CLAS, the radiating patch and the ground plane of the 3DIMA are both composed of woven conductive wires and are bonded into the 3D composite physically by Z-yarns, greatly improving the damage tolerance of the antenna. The return loss of the coaxial-fed antenna is −13.15 dB with a resonant frequency of 1.872 GHz, while that of the microstrip-fed antenna is −31.50 dB with a resonant frequency of 1.33 GHz. Both of the 3DIMAs have similar radiation patterns to that of the traditionally designed microstrip antenna. In addition, an experimental investigation of the impact response of the coaxial-fed 3DIMA was carried out and the results showed the radiation pattern had almost no change even when the antenna received an impact energy of 15 J, exhibiting superior impact resistance to that of a conventional microstrip antenna.