Researchers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) are using additive manufacturing techniques to create unique waveguide structures that would be difficult or impossible to make using conventional fabrication processes. The new techniques are especially useful for integrating updated components into equipment that might otherwise require significant design changes.
In high-powered millimeter wave and microwave radars and antennas, waveguides direct electromagnetic energy from one component to another inside the equipment. Until recently, the waveguides had been fabricated from extruded copper or aluminum tubing, but these traditional manufacturing techniques can't always accommodate the complex configurations needed for optimal design with minimal energy transmission losses.
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