Additive manufactured double-ridged horn antenna for UWB applications

Abstract

In this paper, the design, fabrication, and test of an additive manufactured double-ridged horn antenna optimized to work in ultra-wide-band frequencies is introduced. In particular, to build this antenna, the fused deposition modeling fabrication method is selected. The plastic-made device is then coated by using conductive ink. The double-ridged horn is conceived as a monolithic block. In this way, performance degradations caused by fabrication inaccuracies are minimized. A very good agreement between the simulations and the antenna measurements is demonstrated. The proof-of-concept prototype has an outstanding operational bandwidth performance of 11.5 GHz (fc 8.25 GHz) with a gain of 6 dBi; its total weight is less than 200 gr, and the total prototyping fabrication costs are less than 10 Euro per antenna with a lead time of less than a week.