Broadband Effective Dielectric Permittivity of Heterogeneous 3D Printed PLA Structures

3D printing and additive manufacturing technologies are increasingly being employed for electronics, RF, and microwave applications because they allow high design flexibility at low cost and rapid prototyping. The intrinsic heterogeneity of printed parts has become a challenge from an electromagnetic compatibility standpoint due to their unknown impact on the electromagnetic behavior of such prototypes. To estimate relevant EMC characteristics, such as the shielding effectiveness, characteristic impedance, and coupling effects it is fundamental to know the effective dielectric permittivity of such heterogeneous structures. In this paper, the dielectric permittivity of 3D printed PLA structures is measured using the stepwise Nicolson-Ross-Weir method in the 1 GHz - 6 GHz frequency range. The influence of the layer thickness and the infill percentage is investigated.

Automated summary

With the increasing use of 3D printing and additive manufacturing technologies in electronics, research on their electromagnetic compatibility and dielectric properties has become important. This paper measures the dielectric permittivity of 3D printed PLA structures and investigates the influence of layer thickness and infill percentage.