Additive Manufacturing for RF/Microwave Hardware, Noordwijk, Niederlande

Additive Manufacturing (AM) can suppose a breakthrough technology for the development of RF/microwave hardware such as waveguide harness, filters and antennas&#046; The use of this manufacturing process allows the design of RF/microwave hardware to achieve enhanced performance&#046; RF, thermal and mechanical performance can be improved by using the additional freedom provided by AM&#046;<br>The assessment of different AM approaches has already started and it considers the whole process chain, including design, material supply, processing, post processing, qualification and verification, and standardisation&#046; This assessment exercise is helping to identify already those AM approaches (materials, designs, processing, etc&#046;) best suited for the manufacturing of part for space applications&#046; It is performed focusing mainly on first mechanical and second thermal requirements&#046;<br>Considering the already good maturity point and the positive inertia of AM (materials and processes) for other fields, it is deemed very relevant to perform an assessment of the AM for RF/microwave hardware where all the possible parameters are considered (RF performances, required tolerance, surface requirements, materials, thermal constrains, size of the part, etc&#046;)&#046;<br>In these Industrial Days, we would like to create a multi&#8211;disciplinary environment in order to discuss about the specific needs for the AM of RF/microwave hardware and possible solutions (existing or to be developed)&#046;<br>The event will be divided in two parts&#046;<br>The first day will be dedicated to plenary invited presentations related to RF design, manufacturing processes, materials, qualifications, etc&#046;<br>During the second day, several topical working groups will be created in order to discuss about AMfrom different perspectives&#046; The conclusions will be shared at the end of the second day in a plenary session&#046;<br>