A Metallic 3-D Printed Airborne High-Power Handling Magneto-Electric Dipole Array With Cooling Channels

Abstract

An airborne K-band (18-26.5 GHz) array antenna is presented in this article. It takes the form of meandering waveguide structure to handle large power in a radar system. The magneto-electric (ME) dipole is used as the array element for the relative broad beamwidth. Good agreement is achieved between simulation and measurement. A single array element demonstrates impedance bandwidth of 19-24 GHz. The maximum gain is 10.76 dBi at 24.2 GHz with 3 dB gain bandwidth covering the whole K-band. Symmetric radiation patterns on both the Eand H-planes are observed with 66° half power beamwidth. The 2 × 2 array has an impedance bandwidth of 19.9-22.8 GHz. The maximum gain is 16.2 dBi at 25.2 GHz with 3 dB gain bandwidth covering 19.4-26 GHz. Symmetric radiation patterns on both planes show 26° half-power beamwidth. Taking the advantage of 3-D printing technology to implement complex device, the water- and air-cooling channels are considered at the beginning of antenna design. A parametric study is conducted to analyze the influence of fabrication tolerance on antenna's frequency response. A high-power analysis is conducted to verify the power handling capability of the antenna. The proposed design highlights the capability of 3-D printing technology in fabricating complex and highly integrated microwave devices.