Optimising mechanical design and manufacturing efficiency for a bandpass filter using DFMA techniques

Abstract

This thesis studied the manufacturing plan and construction materials for the milling of mechanical parts of a Ku-band comb line bandpass filter. A large focus was made on maintaining accurate and reliable information, and to this end a triangulation method was followed. This included a dedicated expert interview where specific questions were answered by an expert in a relevant field. Material alternatives such as ALUMEC® aluminium alloys were explored, but Al-6061 with a T6 temper to improve surface requirements was selected. Regarding DFM, The SolidWorks DFMXpress module was used, revealing that many parts failed several manufacturing process rules, however DFMXpress gives generalised rules to manufacturing parts, which will not necessarily indicate real-world performance and could result in failure of the device. Furthermore, SolidWorks CAM was used to create manufacturing plan for the device, resulting in a total machining time of 46 minutes and 42 seconds. Future research on the device could involve possible substrates, alternative or more advanced machining methods, such as SLA 3D printing, as well as improvements to SolidWorks CAM processes.