Shock mounting equipment on roller-coaster

[ETechk]

Any suggestions on mounting electronic components (in an enclosure) on a roller coaster? I don't even know the questions to ask the manufacturer about expected loading and type of vibration. Without knowing what it is I'm mounting, can someone start me off with the types of questions to ask so I can come back to the group for specific advice?

 

[Tofflemire]

Hi Etechk

I have done mounting of electronics in assemblies that have to withstand large shocks but not for continuious motion. We mount on hard durometer rubber (30-50) rather than soft.
Another thing to keep in mind is the components used on the PCB, if there is any full size make sure they are solder on both sides of the PCB ( we have been burned by using singal sided boards to save money). Any other large components make sure that these have a good mechanical mount, "anything that moves will break in time".
Strin relief any cable and wires, and again if there is any wire to PCB soldering make sure these are soldered on both side of the PCB.

Thanks

Tofflemire

 

[IRstuff]

Should ask manufacturer for shock, acceleration and vibration profiles, power spectral densities, etc. This would be followed up with the duty cycles, e.g., how many trips per day.

They should have all of that from their equivalent of qual testing. TTFN

 

[IRstuff]

A good start would be to riff through MIL-STD-810F, available here:

http://131.82.253.19/quicksearch/

TTFN

 

[jiaconis99]

Thanks for the standards link, this will come in handy.

 

[mac24]

Mount an accelerometer on the coaster. You then would have an accurate reading of force G levels. Then you could simply design for the number of cycles you want.