Stereolithography and Direct Metal Laser Sintering Applied to mm-Wave Antennas

This document shows additive manufacturing as an advantageous option for manufacturing and design of components based on gap waveguide. 3D printing increases the degree of freedom in structural design because its complexity has no impact on the cost of production. This makes 3D printing an ideal manufacturing method for small devices with intricate details. The article compares two manufacturing techniques: stereolithography (SLA), which is based on copper-plated plastic, and direct metal laser sintering (DMLS), which generates an all-metal part. At 94 GHz, good results have only been obtained with SLA because of the better surface finish.