On The Performance and Calibration of Arbitrarily Conformal Additively Manufactured Phased Arrays for Wearable, Deployable, and Morphing RF Applications

This paper introduces and evaluates various folding configurations of a phased array aiming to investigate its shape-changing capabilities. A phased array of four 9.75 GHz series-fed patch radiators, each consisting of five patch elements is utilized. These configurations include convex, concave, and accordion-like shapes. Conforming a phased array on static or dynamically shape-changing structures inevitably affects the radiation characteristics, which must in turn be studied and re-calibrated. Alternatively, shape-change may intentionally be used in conjunction with electrical beamforming to achieve higher levels of radiation pattern reconfigurability. Results demonstrate that convex and accordion-like structures effectively minimize the array's projected surface area while maintaining relatively low losses. Additionally, while convex-folded phased arrays inherently reduce the gain and coverage angles when compared to a planar array, an operation mechanism based on selectively activating different elements is proposed to improve performance. Finally, the paper outlines the fabrication of an additively manufactured flexible prototype to realize the different configurations.