Soft Damping Foam between Elec. boards

[kelroy]

I am looking for a good (cheap/dirty) way to dampen electronics boards in a very space limited enclosure under high shock. I was hoping to find a COTS foam tape (~.15 and ~.25 thk) that I could stick between the boards to prevent high frequency vibration.

Anyone know of a foam/material I can stuff between the boards? Oh, and it can't particulate....

Any other thoughts are welcome also.

 

[IRstuff]

Permanently? There's spray insulation.. available at Home Depot. Or weatherstripping foam from same...

TTFN

 

[kelroy]

Well, no. Not permanently. Yes, I'm talking with 3M and looking on the internet for stuff similar to weather stripping tape. It's going to be near optics, so that adds an additional challenge...

 

[IRstuff]

How high a shock?

TTFN

 

[kelroy]

>>100Gs

 

[telecomguy]

http://www.rogerscorporation.com/hpf/index.htm

<tg>

 

[kelroy]

haha. thanks telecom guy. I had just requested a sample from them 2 minutes before your post. Looks like good stuff.

 

[Heckler]

We use a lot of this in our applications.

http://www.earsc.com/

 

[Tofflemire]

Hi Kelroy,

Poron is great foam, and it does not take a set, so it last a long time...

Tofflemire

 

[arto]

http://www.sorbothane.com/

paint:

http://www.silentrunning.us/html/applications.html

 

[thermcool]

May be try soldering, i can resist shocks as well easy to take off.

 

[Tunalover]

BE VERY CAREFUL since this is near optics. Outgassing is a certain concern. Also, silicone-based materials are out.



Tunalover

 

[Heckler]

Is this optical enclosure required to operate in a vacuum? Then silicone-based material is definitely out since they outgas. We had a satellite where silicon-based snubbers where used between the solar arrays. This caused fatal problems during deployment then a corporate memo came down about silicon-based materials used in space applications.

Best Regards,

Heckler
Sr. Mechanical Engineer
SW2005 SP 5.0 & Pro/E 2001
Dell Precision 370
P4 3.6 GHz, 1GB RAM
XP Pro SP2.0
NVIDIA Quadro FX 1400
o
_`\(,_
(_)/ (_)

 

[Tunalover]

Do I hear an echo?


Tunalover

 

[kelroy]

It will potentially be used near optics, not necessarily in a vacuum tho. Yes, outgassing is a concern. For all the readers' benefit, Rogers Corp has some great compliant Urethane and Silicone foams, some of them meeting the TML NASA requirements (although CVCM wasn't listed -- i'll check the NASA site). The rep from Rogers' was really helpful -- I would recommend them.

Thanks for all the discussion.

 

[Heckler]

Yes, you heard an echo.....but I went a step further and gave a recent application.

Best Regards,

Heckler
Sr. Mechanical Engineer
SW2005 SP 5.0 & Pro/E 2001
Dell Precision 370
P4 3.6 GHz, 1GB RAM
XP Pro SP2.0
NVIDIA Quadro FX 1400
o
_`\(,_
(_)/ (_)

Never argue with an idiot. They'll bring you down to their level and beat you with experience every time.

 

[lunite]

I have used TC100U-15 thermal conductive (electrical nonconductive) gap filler adhesive from Saint-Gobain to bond down a board (along with hardware at the corners). The board passed a 90g for 5 minutes vibration test. The thickness of the gap filler is .015". The board has all mil-spec parts and assembled per IPC specification.

 

[rorschach]

I was going to suggest EAR's Isodamp materials as well but Heckler beat me to it. That stuff boggles my mind how well it damps stuff out.

 

[dpzinn478]

Rorschach,

Do you know about the pricing of Isodamp? Someone in my office said it was very expensive (cost prohibitive), but that was from at least a couple of years ago. Have things changed maybe?

 

[noslo21]

I was quoted at about $8.00 per square foot (in bulk quantities) for 20 mil isodamp material with PSA. They also offer Confor foam at about 1.35mm thick. That stuff if pretty amazing how well it absorbs shock.