A Comparative Analysis of 3D Printed Substrate and Laminate-Based Rectangular Patch Antennas at C-Band
Authors:
Saúl S. Carvalho, João R. Reis, Rafael F. S. Caldeirinha
Abstract:
This paper presents a comparative study between 3D printed and laminate-based rectangular patch antennas,
specifically designed to operate at 4.7 GHz. A total of five patch antennas, fabricated using additive
manufacturing (AM) techniques and several materials as substrates (Nanoe Zetamix Epsilon filaments, PETG
and PLA), are compared against four antenna prototypes made in well known laminate substrates (FR4,
Rogers RT/duroid 5880, RO4350B, and RT/duroid 6010LM). For the 3D printed antenna prototypes, different
metallisation techniques, including copper foil, silver spray, and silver cloth tape, were employed to
enhance the electrical performance of the antennas. The results show that the 3D printed antennas
performed reasonably well compared to their laminate counterparts, although several challenges were
encountered, particularly related to manufacturing inconsistencies and the brittleness of the Zetamix
filaments.
