Chris Preddy

Dr Chris Preddy


Postgraduate Research Student

Academic and research departments

Advanced Technology Institute.

About

My research project

Publications

Christopher M. Preddy; Rajinder Singh; Haris Votsi; Peter H. Aaen; S. Ravi P. Silva (2019) Characterization of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic for Microwave Circuit Design

This paper presents the extraction of the complex propagation constant from carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) transmission lines up to 5 GHz. A test-fixture is designed and fabricated to obtain the propagation constant using a line-line extraction method. Use of this method reduces the required number of fabricated transmission lines compared to calibration algorithms such as TRL. Comparison of the extracted propagation constant with simulation data indicates CFRP conductivity of 1.0 - 1.5 x 10^4 S/m.

Christopher M. Preddy; Rajinder Singh; Peter H. Aaen; S. Ravi P. Silva (2020) Integrated Carbon-Fiber-Reinforced Plastic Microstrip Patch Antennas

A carbon fiber microstrip patch antenna is presented, constructed entirely from fiber-reinforced plastic materials, and fabricated directly into carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) composites as part of the composite manufacturing process. Fabrication of antennas as part of the composite manufacturing process provides numerous benefits, such as conformation to complex curvatures, reduced weight, and reduced aerodynamic impact. Modification of the localized conductivity of the carbon fiber using materials such as copper meshes is shown to improve the gain of the antenna by as much as 5 dB, while also improving the interlaminar shear strength of the composite by 22%.