3D PRINTED DIELECTRIC ANTENNA DESIGN

Abstract

This report presents a study on the fundamentals and characteristics of a Dielectric Resonator Antenna (DRA). With the advent of technological rise in wireless communication systems, several studies and investigations have been done on the DRA due to its attractive features of lightweight, small size, low loss, better radiation efficiency, and temperature stability. Because of the revolutionary progress in the wireless communication field use of DRA is not limited only to the commercial sector but also to the military industry, especially in the aviation field. In this report, three designs of dielectric resonator antenna are simulated using ANSYS HFSS software. The frequency range is explicitly chosen from two bands, i.e., the sub-6 GHz band used for ground communication and the X-band used for airborne communication, RADAR, and satellite communication in the Indian Air Force. The first design features of the cylindrical Dielectric Resonator Antenna (CDRA) are analyzed at the sub 6GHz (2-6 GHz) frequency band for wireless communication in the military sector. The substrate used is Rogers RT 5880 with permittivity ɛ= 2.2 and dielectric tangent loss tanẟ=0.0009. The CDRA material is alumina with relative permittivity of 9.9 and resonant frequency at 4 GHz (dielectric loss tangent is 0.0001). The second rectangular Dielectric Resonator Antenna (RDRA) design is simulated and analyzed at X-band (8-12 GHz). The substrate used is FR4 epoxy with permittivity ɛ= 4.4 and dielectric tangent loss tanẟ=0.02. The RDRA material is alumina 96pct with relative permittivity of 9.4 (dielectric loss tangent is 0.006). The defected ground structure (DGS) technique is incorporated to optimize the gain and bandwidth. The ground plane is engraved with a circular slot. Further RDRA design is modified as per the available material at the advanced microwave lab, and simulation is done at X-band. The substrate material used is Polylactic acid (PLA) with relative permittivity ɛ= 2.2 and dielectric tangent loss tanẟ=0.0009. The RDRA material used is Polyether Ether Ketone (PEEK) with relative permittivity ɛ= 3.3 and dielectric tangent loss tanẟ=0.003. All the designs are excited by a microstrip feed line.