Additive manufacturing for radio frequency hardware

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9793613-B2
Application number	US-201314049861-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 9, 2013
Priority date	Oct 9, 2013
Publication date	Oct 17, 2017
Grant date	Oct 17, 2017

Abstract

A method and apparatus is presented. A structure having an interior channel is formed using additive manufacturing equipment. A viscous media containing abrasive particles is sent through the interior channel using abrasive flow machining equipment to form a desired surface roughness for the interior channel.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of manufacturing a part comprising:
sintering additive layers to form a structure having complex channels, wherein the complex channels comprise multiple perpendicular angles;
holding the structure in an abrasive flow machining workpiece, wherein the structure has the same shape as the abrasive flow machining workpiece; and
sending a viscous media containing abrasive particles through the complex channels using the abrasive flow machining workpiece to form a desired surface roughness for the complex channels.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein holding the structure in the abrasive flow machining workpiece comprises holding the structure with a support fixture.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein sending the viscous media containing the abrasive particles through the complex channels causes the structure to have desired dimensions.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein a maximum value for the desired surface roughness is approximately 63 microinches.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein sintering the additive layers to form the structure having complex channels results in the complex channels having a surface roughness of approximately 200 to 400 microinches.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the structure is a passive radio frequency device.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the structure is selected from a group of a waveguide, a filter, a polarizer, and an ortho mode transducer.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the additive layers comprise at least one of aluminum, aluminum alloy, copper, or copper alloy.

9. A method comprising:
sintering additive layers to form a waveguide having complex channels, wherein the complex channels comprise multiple perpendicular angles;
holding the waveguide in an abrasive flow machining workpiece, wherein the waveguide has the same shape as the abrasive flow machining workpiece;
sending a viscous media containing abrasive particles through the complex channels using the abrasive flow machining workpiece to form a desired surface roughness for the complex channels; and
assembling an antenna using the waveguide.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the additive layers comprise at least one of aluminum, aluminum alloy, copper, or copper alloy.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the waveguide is a first waveguide, the complex channels are first complex channels, and assembling the antenna further comprises attaching the first waveguide to a second waveguide having second complex channels, wherein the second complex channels are oriented at a 90 degree angle to the first complex channels.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
electroplating the complex channels.

13. The method of claim 6 , wherein the passive radio frequency device is selected from a group of a waveguide transition, a waveguide splitter, and a waveguide combiner.

Assignees

• Boeing Co

Inventors

• Wilson Allen Wayne
• Pattamanuch Patrick Chalit
• Rosenheck Leonard

Classifications

• H01Q13/00 Primary

  Waveguide horns or mouths; Slot antennas; Leaky-waveguide antennas; Equivalent structures causing radiation along the transmission path of a guided wave · CPC title

• B24B31/116 Primary

  using plastically deformable grinding compound, moved relatively to the workpiece under the influence of pressure · CPC title

• H01P11/002

  Manufacturing hollow waveguides · CPC title