Our Long Heritage with Waveguides
Did you know that Global Invacom, through Global Invacom Waveguide, has as many as 87 years of experience in the design, consultation, and manufacture of flexible, rigid and bespoke integrated waveguide products? Our waveguides are trusted and used by many of the world’s leading companies in defence, aerospace, medical, naval, and satellite communications. We collaborate with customers and partners to deliver meaningful, value‑add services.
Our experience started back in 1939 as Gabriel Microwave and has since gone through a number of different company names and ownership structures, including Gabriel Microwave, Mid Century Microwave, Quasar Microwave, and the Waveguide Solution, before becoming part of Global Invacom Group in 2012. Since then, we have continued to build on this heritage and expertise to design and manufacture a wide range of precision-engineered passive components.
In this blog, we highlight some of those capabilities and why it matters.
Ensuring Good Operation
A waveguide is a specialised structure that directs electromagnetic waves from one point to another. They ensure minimal signal loss at high frequencies, making them ideal for the transmission end of satellite uplinks and downlinks, as well as being widely used for radar applications.
Ensuring they operate correctly, while maintaining minimal signal loss requires a great deal of precision when it comes to both the design and manufacture. While there are some standard types of waveguide, it is definitely not a one size fits all approach as different applications have varying requirements, depending on likely vibrations, for example, and location of the terminal.
Waveguide Simulation and Design
Our team of highly skilled experts have many years of experience designing and manufacturing waveguide solutions. It starts with consultation to fully understand the requirements, environment, and any specific limitations. Our team then works on the design to ensure the customer will receive the right waveguide for each unique application. Each new design will include a full electromagnetic simulation and optimisation of the structure, accurately predicting it’s performance, (S-Parameters). The engineers consider the materials used, operational temperature ranges, fabrication methods and manufacturing tolerances. 3D models and 2D drawings are produced of the designs, and where necessary further finite element simulations are completed to ensure structural integrity in all required environments.
Precision Engineering
Our waveguides are made with high precision, often supplied to support mission-critical systems. We support frequencies from 2.6 GHz to 40 GHz and the components are available in a wide range of different shapes and sizes (including bends, twists, tapers, loads, couplers, adapters), as well as both rigid and flexible, making them adaptable for a diverse range of applications.
Our waveguide manufacturing facility is ISO 9001 quality control and ISO 14001
environmental management certified and is operated by a team of very skilled engineers with deep experience. As well as all the machining to manufacture waveguides, we have the right tools for inspection, CMM, VNA, tensile, and hardness testing, helping us to ensure the highest levels of quality of all products before they are sent to the customer.
The finishing and surface treatment of a waveguide very much depends on the application and environment. We offer a wide range of surface finishes, including gold and silver plating, with multiple colour options. Our waveguides are available in brass, copper, or aluminium to meet varying performance requirements.
Supporting defence, aerospace, oncology, satcom, scientific research
Waveguides are able to handle high-frequency electromagnetic waves with extremely minimal losses. This makes them crucial for a wide range of applications where signal fidelity and power efficiency are important. This includes guiding signals for satellite communications, as well as for defence radar, whether ground-based or airborne.
In the field of medicine, waveguides have revolutionised cancer treatment. In devices like linear accelerators, which are used for oncological treatments, waveguide technology can accurately guide electromagnetic waves used in treating cancerous cells to exactly the right areas, avoiding the adjacent healthy cells.
Waveguides are also used for scientific research, helping to enhance instruments and develop facilities for pioneering experiments.
We have worked with customers across all of these areas, who continue to trust us thanks to our high machining accuracy, reliable delivery, repeatable waveguide performance, and proven reliability in mission-critical systems.
If you need a waveguide, get in touch with our team to find out more!
