Evaluation of One-Staged 3-D Printed Frequency Selective Surface Using Carbon-Fiber-Reinforced Thermoplastic Composite

This paper evaluates a one-staged additive manufacturing (AM) of 3-D frequency-selective surfaces (FSS) using continuous carbon-fiber-reinforced thermoplastic (CFRTP) as the conductor material and Nylon 6 (polyamide 6) as the foundation. The details of the FSS design and 3-D printing conditions are presented. The effects of conductivity and thickness of CFTRP on the response of an FSS structure are studied. It is shown that the low conductivity of the conductor shifts the resonance frequency to lower frequencies compared to good conductors such as copper. However, increasing the thickness of the conductor can compensate for the impact of low conductivity. The proposed method and 3-D printing accuracy are approved by the measurement results of an 8 × 10 structure.