Schroff is very well known in the 19in technology market for enclosures. Based on standard enclosure product platforms Schroff offers solutions dedicated to the defence industry as Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) solutions. These include; cabinets for shipboard applications, ruggedized cases, subracks with high EMC shielding effectiveness, systems for buss standards such as VME, VME64X and CompactPCI.
Through specific projects developed for direct or indirect defence applications such as military communication, radar control and military automation equipment Schroff has gained an excellent reputation for design and quality in the market. Schroff leverages the competencies of EMC and thermal management from other market segments such as telecom, test and measurement and transportation into the defence market segment. In house test facilities for both EMC and thermal analysis (Flowtherm) verify the design prior to build and system testing.
The Schroff integration service ensures flexibility for configuring standard products, modified standard products or customized solutions, with specific detail such as backplanes with conformal coating, shock and vibration mounting.
ELECTRONICS CABINETS
Preferred electronics cabinet solutions are eurorack as a bolted aluminium design and Varistar as welded steel cabinet with excellent EMC characteristics. Beyond that outdoor cabinets and wall mount enclosures are in the offering.
19in ELECTRONICS CASES
The range includes 19in cases such as comptec and electronic cases with ratiopac PRO and propac to accept boards as tabletop version. In addition ruggedized 19in cases are available for transportation needs.
SUBRACK / SYSTEMS
With europacPRO Schroff offers a wide range of modular subracks with many accessories used as platform for defence applications, with specific versions with high resistance to shock and vibration. Adding plug-in units, backplanes standard or with conformal coating systems are offered for VME, VME64x and CompactPCI. The latest developments such as AdvancedTCA and MicroTCA products are already in the catalogue.
STANDARDS
Due to the high requirements for reliability many special standards exist. A certain selection typically relevant for enclosures is listed below.
- MIL 810-F – environmental engineering considerations and laboratory tests
- VG 95373/15 – electromagnetic compatibility of equipment – part 15: test methods for coupling and shielding
- MIL-STD-285 – attenuation measurements for enclosures, electromagnetic shielding, for electronic test purposes
- MIL-STD-461 / 462 – requirements for the control of electromagnetic interference emissions and susceptibility
SHOCK AND VIBRATION
Cabinets onboard ships typically are fixed with shock absorbers. Four mounts are positioned underneath the cabinet and with two, the cabinet is fixed to a wall or bulkhead. The specification of the mounts requires a calculation taking cabinet size and payload into consideration.
EMC SHIELDING
Long involvement with electromagnetic shielding effectiveness by Schroff has developed a high level of capability in the design of EMC enclosure versions available for every product family. The earlier EMC is considered in the design process the more effective the solution will be in terms of price performance ratio.
For an ideal compromise between conductivity and long-term corrosion resistance cremation is used as a galvanic treatment for aluminium parts up to now. To ideally reach RoHS compliancy Schroff has introduced a new ‘coloured’ passivating process as standard treatment.
The yellow non-RoHS finish is available on request.
Schroff is able to do basic research within the in-house labs. For most standard products EMC tests are done in an absorber chamber.
MAGNETIC SHOCK
To survive magnetic shocks caused by detonations, cabinets are preferred to be made from aluminium as the product range ‘eurorack’.
CONFORMAL COATING
Especially for the defence market Schroff offers conformal coating on specific ranges to ensure product compliance according to MIL 810 E and MIL I 46058 C. To protect parts against corrosion, fungus and dust a polymer is applied with a spray process.