Investigation and Development of 3D Printed Biodegradable PLA as Compact Antenna for Broadband Applications

Abstract

This paper presents the feasibility of biodegradable Polylactic Acid (PLA) for the creation of 3D structure as a radiator. Biodegradable PLA is a special type of polymer having a dielectric constant (${\epsilon }_r$) of 3.45 with loss tangent (tan δ) of 0.05 which is made from renewable resources instead of non-renewable petroleum-based resources. Three conventional Dielectric Resonator Antennas (DRAs), i.e. Cylindrical DR Antenna (CDRA), Rectangular DR Antenna (RDRA), and Triangular DR Antenna (TDRA) with supporting pillars have been developed and investigated for broadband applications. These three different structures are used to validate the features of PLA for antenna applications. Proposed antennas cover wide impedance bandwidth of 74.54%, 71.36%, and 69.05% (|S₁₁| < −10 dB) for CDRA, RDRA, and TDRA, respectively. Measured results are correlated with simulations. The average peak gain of proposed antennas is more than 4 dBi within operating band. The fabricated antenna possesses compact size with light-weight and cost-effective feature. Thus, proposed antennas can use for a variety of wireless applications such as weather monitoring, air traffic control, scanning & discrimination, mobile service, radio navigation, and many other applications of C-band, X-band, and Ku-band.

KEYWORDS:

• 3-D Printer
• Biodegradable
• Compact dielectric resonator antenna
• PLA
• Social applications

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors would like to acknowledge Society for Applied Microwave Electronics Engineering and Research (SAMEER), Kolkata, India; and Mu Waves Components Research & Development Pvt. Ltd. (MWCRD), Ghaziabad, India for their support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Jitendra Kumar http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8480-6276

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Pramod Kumar

Pramod Kumar received his BTech degree from Sant Lonogwal Institute of Engineering and Technology, Lonogwal, Punjab, India in 2004 and MTech degree in microwave electronics from University of Delhi, New Delhi, India, in year 2008. Currently, he is working toward his PhD degree in electronics engineering from Indian Institute of Technology (formerly Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad, India. He is also working as Assistant Professor with the Department of Electronics & Communication Engineering, Inderprastha Engineering College (IPEC), Ghaziabad, U.P., India. He is life member of the Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE), New Delhi, India. His recently research includes design and characterization of dielectric resonator antenna. Email: [email protected]

Santanu Dwari

Santanu Dwari was born in Howrah, West Bengal, India. He received his BTech and MTech degree in radio physics and electronics from University of Calcutta, Kolkata, West Bengal, India in the year of 2000 and 2002 respectively, and PhD degree from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, West Bengal, India in the year of 2009. He joined Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad, Jharkhand, India in 2008 where he is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electronics Engineering. He has published several research papers in refereed International Journals. His research interest includes antennas, RF planar circuits, computational electromagnetics.Email: [email protected]

Utkarsh

Utkarsh has studied from Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, IPEC, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India. He has published several research papers in reputed national and international journals as well as conferences. His research interests include electromagnetic field theory, dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) design and development for broadband and ultra-wide band applications using biodegradable materials by utilizing additive manufacturing process.Email: [email protected]

Shailendra Singh

Shailendra Singh received his MTech degree in microwave electronics from University of Delhi South Campus, New Delhi, India, in year 2013 and BTech degree from Galgotia College of Engineering and Technology, Gr. Noida, India. He is currently working as a Deputy Engineer in Bharat Electronics Limited, Bangalore, India. His research interest includes antenna design, microwave wireless communication, digital board testing, and Real-time system integration and testing. He has worked in Institute for Plasma Research and CEERI-Pilani, India also. He has published more than 15 research papers in international and national journal & conferences proceeding papers.Email: [email protected]

Jitendra Kumar

Jitendra Kumar is currently working as Post-Doctoral Fellow (PDF) in Microwave Plasma Group, Institute for Plasma Research, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India. He received the AMIETE degree in electronics and telecommunication from IETE, New Delhi, India, in 2008 and MTech degree in microwave electronics from University of Delhi, New Delhi, India, in 2010. He received his PhD degree from Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, (BITS-Pilani) Rajasthan, India in 2016. He is also life member of IETE. His research interests include antenna design and microwave engineering.