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 E- and H-planes are observed with 66° half power beamwidth. The $2\,\,\times2$ 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.