Date of Award

Fall 2022

Embargo Period

2-16-2024

Access Type

Thesis - Open Access

Degree Name

Master of Science in Electrical & Computer Engineering

Department

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Committee Chair

Eduardo Rojas

First Committee Member

Brian Butka

Second Committee Member

Jianhua Liu

Abstract

Due to advancements in additive manufacturing, it is possible to create electromagnetic devices that can be conformally printed directly onto 3D surfaces using conductive inks and dielectric pastes. Instance, the traditional antenna radomes that had the purpose of protecting the antenna on its inside can now become the antenna itself. With the components on the surface of the structure, instead of inside if it, a direct feed line would require cutting through dielectric layers and creating a direct electrical connection, also called vertical interconnect access (VIA). Such interconnects are frequent sources of failures, especially in applications that are subject to vibrations, high accelerations, and extreme changes in temperature. This thesis presents the study of a feed structure that can couple electromagnetic energy between two layers, that is compatible with well-known additive manufacturing technologies, radiofrequency enabling energy transfer without the need of VIAs. The proposed wireless feed structure has been optimized for maximum bandwidth and lowest insertion loss over the bandwidth of interest. The presented wireless feed design can be generalized to common non-flat RF components. In this work a solution is suggested using a transition from microstrip line to microstrip line that is generalized enough to fit into most design needs. The feed design is demonstrated on a planar form using the traditional 4003C Roger’s laminate achieving a 27% bandwidth, with a center frequency of 7 GHz, and the minimum insertion loss of -1.84 dB. An additive manufacturing protype is made with the nScrypt additive manufacturing system using ABS and CB028 conductive ink. The results are then compared to the use of a VIA to show the viability of the wireless feed structure for additively manufactured antennas.

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