Two-Way Additively Manufactured Shape Memory Alloy Wideband Reconfigurable Compound Antenna

A paradigm shifting antenna technology taking advantage of recent advancements in additive manufacturing is presented for the first time. Fine control over additive manufacturing has allowed fabrication of a two-way shape memory alloy antenna. A double spiral antenna capable of actuating through thermal response alone is able to actuate from a flat spiral antenna to an extended conical spiral antenna. Actuation control was achieved by measuring changes in electrical resistance caused by shape memory alloy phase changes. The prototype antenna was validated from 4 GHz to 11 GHz (S to X bands) with a gain of approximately 5 dBi. The measured trends in antenna gain as a function of frequency from the actuation agree with simulations.