Flangeless Waveguide Connection Based on Gap Waveguide Technology

To reduce the size of traditional waveguide flange, a solution of pluggable flangeless waveguide connection is proposed. Artificial magnetic conductor (AMC) structure is designed surrounding the outer surface of a size-reduced end of a waveguide, called part-A. Another waveguide with stepped transition to an enlarged end is part-B, the inner surface of the enlarged end works as PEC surface. When Part-A is inserted into part-B, a tight flangeless waveguide connection is achieved under proper size conditions. Tiny air gap exists between the PEC and AMC surface, the electromagnetic leakage from the air gap is prevented by band gap of the EBG structure formed by PEC and AMC surface. A Ku-band prototype of the flangeless connection is designed and manufactured, the measured insertion and return loss are better than 0.06dB and 20dB respectively over 10GHz to 15GHz. The sectional size decreases by more than 70% comparing with traditional waveguide flange.