Evaluation of 3D printing technology for corrugated horn antenna manufacturing

We report on the performance of waveguide components at W-band manufactured with 3-D printing technology. The precision and surface roughness of the various techniques are studied to determine the applicability of millimeter-wave components. The best waveguide attenuation measured of 0.014 dB/mm is still three times higher than for metal WR-10 waveguides. Full-wave simulations and surface roughness analysis show that performance can be improved by changing the orientation of the parts in the printer. The performance of a multi-flare angle and corrugated horn antennas is evaluated.