Project Gallery

Below are 3 pictorial examples of projects.

The first is a One-off Project, the second a Limited Production Project and the third a Production Project, utilizing BCT's computer controlled, heated mold technology.

The slide shows are not set to auto-start, so use the start buttom below the image to start.

Very Large Spherical Nearfield Gantry - One-off

The customer provided BCT with vertical height (50 feet), horizontal extension (36 feet) and payload (antenna and its positioner - 150 lbs.) requirements. BCT then designed, analyzed, tooled and maufactured the gantry

Because of the length of the cantilever and the payload mass, BCT created a counter balanced Tee-shape gantry. This way the deflection through its rotation is kept planar and can be corrected by a single lookup table when positioning.

Click on the button to the right, if you have Google Earth installed on your computer. Google Earth of Gantry

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• Gantry_CAD1.jpg
  Gantry CAD
• Gantry_FEA1.jpg
  FEA Results
• Gatry_lam.jpg
  One of the Laminate Schedules
• Gantry_mold_surfaces.jpg
  Mold Surfaces
• Gantry_CAM.jpg
  CAM for Tooling
• DSC00278.jpg
  Bonding of Foam
• DSC00388.JPG
  Machining of PU Foam for One-off Mold
• DSC00387.JPG
  Foam Ready to have Paste Applied
• DSC00287.JPG
  Pasted Foam being Post-Cured
• DSC00293.JPG
  Machining of Paste
• DSC00443.JPG
  Mold Sections Bonded together, Wet Sanded and Released
• DSC00472.JPG
  Lamination of Half of a Vertical Section
• DSC00501.JPG
  Molded Parts for Gantry
• DSC00513.JPG
  Parts in Paint Booth
• DSC00520.JPG
  Bonding and Bolting of Components
• DSC00651.JPG
  Assembly Fixture for Mount Interface Plates
• DSC00666.JPG
  Plates Bolted and Bonded
• DSC00774.JPG
  Pre-assembled Major Components Loaded in Truck
• DSC_0012.JPG
  Major Conmponents Assembled on Site
• IMG_6285.JPG
  Dedication Ceremony of Sperical Nearfield Scanner

Compact Range Reflector - Limited Production

The customer provided the required focal length, quiet zone diameter and the plan view of the serration profiles. BCT designed the reflector, developed the laminates in the structure, performed FEA analysis, machined and manufactured the required limited production tooling and manufactured the reflector.

Additionally, BCT designed a unique transport/shipping dolly that converts itself into a lifting fixture for the reflector installation.

The finished reflector body's surface had a RMS of .0005"

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• 1-CAD.jpg
  CAD Modeling of Compact Range Reflector
• FEA_lam_areas.jpg
  FEA Mesh and Laminate Areas
• 2_FEA.jpg
  FEA Results
• Backup_master_surface.jpg
  Backup Master Surface
• 3_CAM.jpg
  CAM Simulation
• IMG_0389.jpg
  Bonded Body Foam on Mill for Machining
• 4-Backup Foam.jpg
  Backup Structure Master Foam Machined
• 5_Backup Paste.jpg
  Backup Structure and Body Masters Pasted
• DSC01290.jpg
  Body Master being Rough Machined
• DSC01305.jpg
  Backup Master Machined and Duratec Applied
• DSC01317.jpg
  Body Master being Buffed
• DSC01340.jpg
  Backup Mold on Dolly
• DSC01341.jpg
  Body Mold On Dolly
• DSC01460.jpg
  Molded Components being Fit
• DSC01463.jpg
  Backup Structure being Bonded in Body Half
• DSC01465.jpg
  Body Halves with their Backups Bonded Together
• DSC01470.jpg
  Body being Prepared for Surface Pasting
• DSC01471.jpg
  Body Pasted
• IMG_0438.jpg
  Reflector Surface Roughing
• DSC01488.jpg
  Reflector Surface Finish Passes
• DSC01343.jpg
  Tooling Board being Bonded to Pre-pressed Panel for Serrations
• DSC01451.jpg
  Serrations being Machined to their Unique Area of the Paraboloid
• Serration Scan.jpg
  Serration Scan - RMS = 0.0015"
• IMG_0439.jpg
  Machined Reflector with Molded Transition Mount attached on Work Stand
• DSC01491.jpg
  Initial Wet Sanding of Primed Surface
• IMG_0444.jpg
  Finish Wet Sanding against Tracking Laser Data
• Body_scan.jpg
  Finished Body Scan - RMS = 0.0005"
• IMG_0448.jpg
  Surface with Silver Applied
• DSC01509.jpg
  Reflector Body on Shipping Dolly with Serration Hardware Attached
• DSC01529.jpg
  Reflector Body loaded on Truck
• Body1.jpg
  Reflector on Site and Dolly Converted to Lift Stand
• Body_lift.jpg
  Reflector being Lifted on to Pedestal with Fork Truck
• IMG_0459.jpg
  Serrations Installed and being Alligned
• IMG_2259.jpg
  Reflector installed in Anechoic Chamber

.75M 3-Piece Fly-away Reflector - Production

The customer provided BCT with the required parameters of the parabolic shape, the basic main body width, hardware interfaces and the operating parameters that the finished reflectors had to meet. Using these provided parameters, BCT designed the reflector, its laminate structure, tooling and fixturing and then manufactured the reflectors. This project is a production example and utilizes BCT's computer controlled, heated mold technology.

BCT has produced around 400 of these reflectors.

For a run of 100 reflectors:

• The average RMS was .00253”
• The standard deviation was .00026”
• The max RMS was .0034”
• The min RMS was .0020”
• Only 4 were at or above .0030”

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• 01_Cad.jpg
  Reflector Solid Model
• 02_Cad.jpg
  Mold Assembly Rendering
• 03_FEA.jpg
  Reflector FEA Model
• 04_FEA.jpg
  FEA Results
• 06_CAM.jpg
  Body Master CAM
• 07_code.jpg
  Wing Master NC Code
• 08_master.jpg
  Body Master being Machined
• 09_fixture_block.jpg
  Assembly Vacuum Fixture Block being Prepared
• 10_wing_master.jpg
  Finished Wing Master
• 05_master-scan.jpg
  Scan of Body Master prior to Mold Start (RMS 0.0007")
• 11_body_mold_wired.jpg
  Body Mold being Wired
• 12_body_wired.jpg
  Wing Mold being Wired
• 13B_controll.jpg
  Process Control GUI
• 13_assembled.jpg
  Mold Assembly Completed
• 05_mold scan.jpg
  Finished Mold Scan (RMS 0.0007")
• 13C_3K_nesting.jpg
  3K Nested for Gerber Cutting
• 14_untrimmed.jpg
  Untrimmed Parts
• 15_trimmed.jpg
  Trimmed Parts
• 16_fixture.jpg
  Hardware being fit in Vacuum Assembly Fixture
• 17_scan.jpg
  Reflector being Scanned
• 17B_scan.jpg
  Assembled Reflector Scan (RMS 0.0020")
• 18_backs.jpg
  Finished Reflectors
• 19_fronts.jpg
  Finshed Reflectors
• truck.jpg
  Reflector Operational