Featured Product Archive
The inventions and products featured on these pages were chosen either for their
uniqueness in the RF engineering realm, or are simply awesome (or ridiculous) enough
to warrant an appearance.
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3D printing of antenna and waveguide components has been advancing rapidly in
the past few years. Early research used plastic that was then coated with a conductive
substance. Once 3D printing using a metallic filament was developed to the point
that the structure could withstand heat cycling, vibration, and shock associated
with aerospace environments, the creation of complex, compound shapes never deemed
possible with traditional machining became reality. Using proprietary additive manufacturing
techniques developed in-house, virtually any form of waveguide and/or antenna can
now be fabricated by companies like Swissto12, based in Renens, Switzerland.
As can be seen in the included images from the
Swissto12
website, the surfaces are not perfectly smooth due to the manner in which the 3D
printer lays down successive layers of material. At lower frequencies with longer
wavelengths surface roughness would not be as much of an issue, but in the 10 GHz
and above realm it can be a deal killer. Swissto12 has a process which smoothes the
assembly enough to achieve low insertion loss and good VSWR.
No, I do not know the derivation of the company's name.
Swissto12's Small Satellites for GEO
Swissto12- 3D Printing at Radio Frequencies
Posted September 28, 2022
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