Additive manufacturing for radio frequency hardware
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.
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.