Date of Award

2025-01-01

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Advisor(s)

Robert C. Roberts

Abstract

In the past decade, Additive Manufacturing (AM) has proven to be groundbreaking yet reliable technology. Not only has it revolutionized the way we approach problems in research, design, and production but it has enabled burgeoning discoveries and methods due to the technologyâ??s efficiency, speed, and low manufacturing cost. One area that benefits greatly from this includes radio frequency (RF) devices like horn antennas. At the moment, most horn antennas produced by conventional manufacturing are expensive, heavy, and limited in customization, yet they are necessary for various systems like satellite communication, radar, radio astronomy, and more. 3D printing technology would alleviate some of these issues since they can be constructed at varying levels of complexity at lower the cost, mass, and amount of time. One type of customization that has already been explored in previous research includes metal printing perforation patterns on the walls of the horn antenna using Powder Bed Fusion (PBF) technology. The purpose of this design reduces mass and surface roughness of the material without significantly altering the signal. However, this research aims to study the effects of various geometric periodic perforations and compare them to an aperiodic design known as Einstein Tiles. By comparing the electrical performances and mechanical robustness, we can determine which design is best while also analyzing how much the predicted 3D model matches the physical antenna.

Language

en

Provenance

Recieved from ProQuest

File Size

82 p.

File Format

application/pdf

Rights Holder

Alexis Valencia

Download

Share

COinS