Conformal Antenna of Cylindrical Carrier Based on Jet Printing Technology

A nonplanar antenna of cylindrical carrier based on jet printing technology is proposed in this letter. The antenna uses jet printing technology to print the circular radiation patch on the outer surface of the cylindrical dielectric carrier, and the feed network is attached to the inner surface of the cylindrical dielectric carrier by plane bending. The shape of the antenna is conformal to the surface of a cylinder such that the antenna can be completely integrated within the body of a cylindrical carrier without protruding components. Therefore, the antenna design concept would enable the integration of antenna arrays on small aeronautical platforms. We have studied and analyzed the difference in the characteristics between planar antenna element and conformal antenna element. The simulation results show that the operating frequency band is from 2.5 to 3.2 GHz, so the antenna can be used for satellite communication of aircraft platform.