Characterization of Dielectric Properties, Resultant Isotropy and Anisotropy of 3D Printed Dielectrics

In this paper we perform a set of numerical and experimental investigations of the resulting isotropy/anisotropy of the dielectric properties of the modern artificial dielectrics, produced by 3D printers applying different unit cells. As in the cases of other artificial dielectrics with antenna and microwave applications, e.g. reinforced substrates, multilayer radomes, textile fabrics, some metamaterials, etc., the 3D printed materials can be considered as mixtures between two or more dielectrics or metals and we estimate their anisotropy using unit cells with different shapes (spheres, cubes, prisms, hexagons, etc.) and materials with different dielectric parameters. In this first our paper in the area of bi-axial anisotropy of 3D printed dielectrics we investigate the influence of the type and orientation of the “building blocks” in the unit cells over the resultant dielectric constant and dielectric loss tangent of the samples. Experimental data have been presented for simple 3D printed samples with unit cells as hexagons and triangles from PLA (polylactic acid). Special attention is devoted for determination of the resulting isotropy of dielectrics for 3D printed Luneburg lens antennas, fabricated by applying of unit cells with different symmetry.