With the development of Internet of things, industrial Internet, intelligent connection, 5g and 6G communication technology, wireless mobile communication has become more and more mainstream, and phased array antenna has become a popular product of 5g communication. In addition to the high requirements for dimensional accuracy and shape accuracy, the radar antenna shell also requires high workpiece surface roughness and no burr. At the same time, due to the huge number of communication products, it is required to have the characteristics of short production cycle, low production cost and good system reliability. Therefore, studying the forming and processing technology of a series of circular arc antenna shells and developing special bending and forming equipment will be of great significance and value for reducing the production of 5g communication and low-cost large-scale network construction.

Forming characteristics of arc communication equipment shell

Workpiece size: the section of aluminum alloy profile is irregular, with a thickness of 1.4mm, the large diameter of arc radius is 660mm, and the small diameter is 612mm. There are more than two stiffeners in the bending direction, which increases the resistance of bending forming. Bending is easy to cause defects such as uneven torsion of antenna shell, deformation of stiffeners, burrs caused by scratches, and the profile rolling at the entrance of the mold.

Equipment requirements: the pipe bender requires high stability, no jamming during the production of a single part, no delay in the control system, and continuous operation is required to complete the workpiece from straight feeding to bending into a semi-circular arc shape.

Mold requirements: the mold size is large, and the requirements for machining accuracy, surface roughness and installation accuracy are high. The position accuracy of the mold installation will directly affect the quality of the profile at the import and export of the mold. When the parts are separated from the mold at the beginning of bending, it is easy to cause the deformation of both ends of the workpiece, resulting in the scrap of the workpiece and reducing the production efficiency.

Inspection requirements: the inspection tool is large in size and high in accuracy. It mainly depends on visual inspection, and the workpiece is flat without wrinkles and cocks; The workpiece and the inspection tool are close to each other, and the gap is not more than 1 mm. Use a plug gauge to check; It is expensive to check the size of arc R with CMM.

Forming method of circular arc communication equipment shell

According to the production characteristics of circular arc communication equipment shell, the enterprise has improved the production yield in the following ways.

(1) Improve the roughness of the guide block of the pipe bender and its relative installation accuracy with the large die, so that the blank can pass smoothly and reduce jamming.

(2) Applying lubricating oil on the guide block and circular die of the pipe bender can greatly improve the qualification rate of products by reducing the processing resistance, but cleaning up the oil stains on the workpiece requires more time and labor costs, and it is difficult to clean up completely. The use of lubricating oil also puts forward new requirements on the factory site, making the working environment of workers worse.

(3) Improve the rigidity of large molds, ensure the stability and consistency of their long-term work, so as to increase the design and manufacturing costs of molds. Moreover, different circular arc shells need different molds, especially when the circular arc radius continues to increase, the requirements for benders and molds will be higher.

After improvement, the product can meet the use requirements, but there is still room for further improvement in the production process. Equipment manufacturers urgently need to develop a large-scale arc forming equipment with high stability and high precision, so as to improve the yield of products, improve production efficiency and reduce production costs.

Prospect of arc shell forming

The present situation of arc shaped communication shell forming

With the continuous iterative development of communication technology, the demand for arc communication shell is increasing, especially with the rapid development of 5g, 6G, satellite communication, Internet of things and other technologies, the demand for phased array antenna and radar is increasing dozens of times, and the requirement for production cycle is becoming shorter and shorter. At present, the arc-shaped communication shell can meet the use requirements of products through a series of complex production processes such as pipe bender, forming mold, grinding, deburring, etc., which increases the production cost and delivery cycle, and has a high scrap rate, which affects the application of phased array antenna in 5g field, affects the coverage speed and laying speed of communication industry, and hinders the application of phased array antenna in rail transit Large scale applications in infrastructure construction such as smart ports. Therefore, we must adopt new production technology and advanced production equipment to meet the precision molding processing of circular arc communication shell, so as to reduce production costs, improve production efficiency, promote the rapid development of 5g communication projects, and seize market opportunities.

Prospect of forming circular arc communication shell

Circular arc communication shell is a kind of phased array radar antenna shell, accounting for more than 60% of the phased array radar antenna shell. Because the circular phased array radar antenna has a simple and beautiful appearance and saves space, it can be installed on aircraft, smart cars and other mobile vehicles, which is beautiful, saves space and reduces weight. In the field of millimeter wave communication technology, new requirements are put forward for the shape accuracy, dimensional accuracy, surface roughness, production efficiency and manufacturing cost of workpieces. At the same time, phased array radar antenna is developing from millimeter wave communication field to terahertz communication field and satellite communication field. We should not only consider the mass low-cost production mode required by the communication field and the interconnection of everything, but also consider the bending machine tools with strong applicability, high flexibility, high precision and high stability, so as to meet the quality and production cycle of product diversity processing, and promote China's 6G communication, THz communication, Beidou system The development and production demand of military field and space station construction lay the foundation for the rapid development of high-tech field. It is hoped that industry enterprises will increase R & D investment and strive to bring the general complex circular arc shell forming equipment to the market as soon as possible.