Structural Busbars
Using busbars as structural members minimises panel mass whilst maintaining panel stiffness.
Introduction
We were approached by a client developing a naval motor drive for a sub-sea application. A large panel, at over 100kg, was being developed due to the large contactors required in the system. We used a novel design of panel to significantly reduce the mass of the panel.
The customer.
The end customer was an international leader in design and supply of defence systems for air, land and sea. We worked in collaboration with a tier three supplier to design and supply the end solution.
The Problem
Extreme shock levels, high mass.
The drive system was extremely complex, consisting of a number of compartments and extremely large contactors, all of which needed to remain operational after a heavy shock load.
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The structure which has been utilised was inefficient, not accounting for the added stiffness the busbars could add to the motor drive enclosure. As such, it was overweight.
Our Process
Finite element analysis and rethinking structure
Conducting FEA on the enclosure design revealed opportunities to update the panel structure to reduce weight.
We discovered the busbars in the system added significant stiffness to the system, and could be utilised to safely provide structure without causing a risk of arcing or shorting to ground.
The Solution
A novel enclosure layout.
Running the high power busbars at the rear of the panel, behind a sheet of melamine for electrical safety, we physically the busbars to the structure of the panel. We used a novel system of insulating mounts and fixings to ensure there was no fault risk with the enclosure.
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We then reran the FEA to confirm that the panel was suitable under all shock loads, and ran through shock testing, monitoring the position of the busbars during the application of the shock load.
The Results
The updated design reduced the weight of the panel significantly without impacting the function or performance of the panel.
10kg
panel mass
reduction
No
loss in
stiffness
Pass
shock tests first time
