Projects:2020s2-7111 3D printed recycled plastic antennas

Nowadays, the demand for reliable WiFi networks is very apparent and is in a constant growth. Thus, in order to provide high-quality and low-cost WiFi networks to consumers, the need for inexpensive and high performance antennas is critical to meet the high demand. In this project, 3D printed antennas which are made of recycable plastic will be investigated. Tests will be conducted to verify that these antenna meet the required performance criteria.

Introduction

This project aims to make use of recyclable plastic as a filament to 3D print antennas for WiFi networks. This will not just make use of the common household waste and reduce pollution, but also lead to a mass production of budget-friendly antennas through the usage of 3D printing technology. These high performance antennas will be designed through CST Studio Suite 2019 which will then be 3D printed and tested in the anechoic chamber and real outdoor WiFi setting to make sure that they meet the specifications set for WiFi networks.

Project team

Project students

• Sultan Ahmed Saleh Al-Hammadi

Supervisors

• Prof. Christophe Fumeaux
• Dr. Shengjian Jammy Chen
• Mr. David de Haaij (Black Art Technologies)

Objectives

• 3D printable antenna structure • Made of recyclable plastic and least amount of metal • Operates at 2.4-2.5 GHz and 5-5.8 GHz with gain higher than 10 dBi • Maximum dimension of 30 cm • Sidelobe levels need to be below -10 dB

Motivation

WiFi is considered to be one of the greatest inventions in the last 25 years due to its countless applications. To enable such a technology, antennas are need to transmit and receive electromagnetic waves. There are many WiFi antennas which already exist in the literature and on the market. However, as customer demands are increasing while noting that global warming is a massive problem, antennas with the following characteristics are required: • Highly directive and environmentally friendly. • Inexpensive and easy to manufacture. • High performance.

Launcher Design

The proposed device consists of two main components: the launcher, and the radiator. In this project, three distinct launchers were investigated. The first one is a rectangular waveguide which is widely used in the industry. The cut-off frequency can be controlled by changing the dimensions of its cross section [1]. However, since it is required to have a dual-band antenna, there would be higher modes of propagation at the higher frequency band (i.e. the 5.4 GHz band). This would lead to a problem known as modal dispersion which results in a spread of “the temporal duration of the pulse, which limits the bandwidth.” This is due to the fact that each mode “travels with a different group velocity”, causing propagation modes to be delayed with respect to each other [2]. The other issue is that it is a relatively expensive and complex structure to manufacture. The second structure

Conclusion

• Highly directive and environmentally friendly antenna (gain ≥ 10 dBi). • Operates at 2.23-2.89 GHz and 5.11-7.01 GHz. • Excellent match between measured and simulated results. • Potential to improve sidelobe levels and weight of dielectric rod antenna

References

[1] C. A. Balanis, Antenna Theory: Analysis and Design, 4th ed. New York, NY, USA: Wiley, 2016.

[2] C. Pollock and M. Lipson, Integrated photonics, 1st ed. Boston, MA, USA: Springer Link, 2003.

[3] I. C. Göknar and L. Sevgi, Complex Computing-Networks: Brain-like and Wave-oriented Electrodynamic Algorithms, 1st ed. Berlin, HD: Springer Link, 2006.

[2] Z. X. Yuan, Y. Z. Yin, Y. Ding, B. Li and J. J. Xie, “Multiband printed and double-sided dipole antenna for WLAN/WiMax applications,” Microw. and Optical Technol. Lett., vol. 54, no. 4, pp. 1019-1022, Apr. 2012.