Formable RF Cable Assemblies

Formable RF Cable Assemblies from Amphenol Military & Aerospace’s EZ Form Cable division deliver semi‑rigid performance in a hand‑formable format tailored for aerospace, defense, medical, and instrumentation systems. The assemblies use a copper‑tin composite outer conductor that provides full 360‑degree shielding continuity yet can be shaped manually to final geometry, removing the need for mandrels or specialized bending fixtures.

Construction and Electrical Performance

The EZFlex Formable™ design maintains the standard 50 Ω impedance of semi‑rigid cable while providing simplified assembly and re‑routing during integration or maintenance. Dimensional similarity with standard semi‑rigid cables allows use of conventional SMA, SMP, TNC, BNC, and N‑Type connectors without additional adaptor hardware.

• Outer Conductor: Copper‑tin composite for continuous EMI/RFI shielding.
• Center Conductor: Silver‑plated copper with PTFE or air‑spaced PTFE dielectric choices.
• Impedance: 50 Ω nominal with controlled VSWR across the microwave band.
• Mechanical Forming: Hand‑bendable to required layout without cracking or impedance shifts.

Available Size Options

Supplied in standard coaxial diameters of 0.047 in, 0.086 in, 0.141 in, and 0.250 in, the lineup supports optimized trade‑offs between loss, power handling, and bend radius:

• Standard variant: Non‑magnetic copper‑tin jacket, PTFE dielectric, 50 Ω impedance.
• Double‑shielded version: Copper‑tin composite over copper foil for enhanced isolation (Ø .047 and .086 in).
• Jacketed version: Blue FEP outer jacket for chemical and environmental protection (Ø .141 in).
• Air‑spaced low‑loss variant: Profile‑extruded PTFE dielectric introducing air channels to reduce attenuation and raise temperature limit (Ø .141 and .250 in).
• Special impedance builds: Custom impedance options such as 100 Ω available for matching specialized system topologies.

Engineering and Integration Advantages

• Eliminates bending tooling and associated manufacturing cost.
• Provides electrical performance equivalent to semi‑rigid coax while enabling field re‑shape and short‑run adaptability.
• Ensures 100 % shielding continuity—no performance degradation with multiple bends.
• Compatible with existing semi‑rigid connector interfaces and fixtures.
• AS9100D certified manufacturing supporting full traceability for defense and aerospace orders.

Applications

These assemblies are deployed in radar front‑ends, aerospace telemetry, SATCOM terminal routing, medical MRI systems requiring non‑magnetic materials, quantum computing components, and precision test instrumentation. Engineers can use the EZF Builder tool to configure lengths, connector types, and impedance options for custom designs.