Characterization of a 3D printed wideband waveguide and horn antenna structure embedded in a UAV wing

3D printing opens new possibilities for system design, prototyping and manufacturing. Development time can be shortened, prototyping is cheaper and novel designs can be implemented with greater ease than earlier. In this paper we present a UAV wing section with an embedded wideband waveguide and antenna structure covering 7.5 to 18GHz. The design was computer simulated, produced with a 3D printer and the most important microwave properties were measured. Results show good correspondence between simulations and measurements. The main discrepancy is a somewhat lower gain than indicated by simulations (1-4dB depending on frequency). This is due to the imperfect conductive properties of the silver based paint applied. Studies on different conductive coatings presented herein strongly indicate that using electroplating can circumvent this in a production design if necessary.