GUIDE to determine minimum Aluminum thickness 4

[designmr]

I am looking for a specification to find out what is the minimum Alumimum thickness allowed in Automotive power electronics enclosures. This design is my 1st that I have worked in an Automotive industry, so not sure what spec. to look for.

Thank you in advance.

 

[GregLocock]

You'll have a test or a spec it has to pass. Or find a similar component and copy.

Cheers

Greg Locock


New here? Try reading these, they might help FAQ731-376

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[IRstuff]

The only question to me is whether you should be using aluminum at all. Otherwise, open up the hood of your car and start doing some measurements

TTFN (ta ta for now)
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[BrianPetersen]

Plenty of those use cast aluminium (it conducts heat well, and it conducts electricity well - grounding). The limitations of the manufacturing process are going to be a significant factor.

 

[designmr]

Thank you Greg, IRstuff and Brian for your reply. Yes, it does seem that autos use alot of Aluminum. thank again.

 

[SwinnyGG]

I used to design these a long time ago. Aluminum was always used, onboard device drivers necessitate good heat rejection and plastics won't get you there.

Wall thickness was controlled by manufacturability 95% of the time, not by mechanical loads. We were pretty much always going as thin as could be allowed by whatever casting technique we were using for that particular part.

There were a few cases with extreme conditions for things like mining equipment where mechanical loads (mainly vibration) were severe enough to require additional material beyond the manufacturability minimums, but these cases were rare, and often wound up using additional techniques to get PCBs to survive (100% epoxy fill, capacitors welded to cases, etc).

 

[designmr]

Thank you SwinnyGG...