Additive Manufacturing of RF Waveguide Components

Abstract

The exponential growth of publications, in the last years, on the use of additive manufacturing (AM) technologies in the microwave field proves the increasing interest of research institutions and industries in these techniques. Some advantages of AM with respect to conventional machining are weight reduction, design flexibility, and integration of different functionalities (electromagnetic, thermal, and structural) in a single part. This chapter presents the most employed AM technologies for the manufacturing of RF waveguide components. First, an overview of the AM processes is discussed with particular care on material properties and post-processing. Then, an extensive survey on microwave-guided components fabricated by AM processes published in literature is shown.