BASED ON INTERNATIONAL OPEN STANDARDS, OPENCOTS™ REFERENCE DESIGNS FACILITATE RAPID MODULE & SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT & ADVANCE OUR MISSION TO SUPPORT CUSTOMERS WITH INDUSTRY LEADING MECHANICAL PACKAGING KNOWLEDGE.
STANDARDIZE MECHANICAL HARDWARE ACROSS PRODUCT LINES TO ENABLE ROUTINE MAINTENANCE & COMMON TOOL SETS FOR END USERS.
3U VITA 48.2 / VPX

DESIGN GUIDANCE TO INSURE SUCCESFUL RUGGEDIZATION OF YOUR 3U MODULE.
EXTEND THE LIFE & HIGH PERFORMANCE OF YOUR DEPLOYED SYSTEMS WITH AN ENDURING THERMAL SOLUTION THAT ENABLES GENERATIONAL UPGRADES TO PRODUCTS WITH MINIMAL HARDWARE MODIFICATIONS.
6U VITA 48.2 / VPX
SECONDARY-SIDE JUSTIFIED PASS-THRU WEDGELOCKS
DEVELOP ONE HIGH-PERFORMANCE PCB FOR USE IN EITHER CONDUCTION-COOLED OR CONVECTION-COOLED ENVIRONMENTS
SECONDARY-SIDE JUSTIFIED PASS-THRU WEDGELOCKS
CARD EDGE THERMAL RESISTANCE VALUES BY WEDGELOCK POSITION

SMALL FORM FACTORS
100mm 3U VPX SHORT
100MM 3U VPX SHORT
DATA REQUIREMENTS FOR HEATFRAME DESIGN & THERMAL ANALYSIS
DATA REQUESTS TO BEGIN PROJECT:
Board Manufacturer’s part number and description
o Detailed BOM with mfg. part numbers and ref designators for PCB layout
o PCB layout, DXF and / or IDF with reference designators Note: Components
Should be consistently identified using the same designation or acronym
o Power dissipation spread sheet listing all critical or vulnerable components
(Typically >1W or heat flux > 1W/in²)
Power dissipation calculations for entire board
On-Board Power supply (if used) calculations and specifications
o Manufacturer’s Specification Sheets for the following:
all high wattage components
all temperature sensitive devices
all components with a height greater than .080”
o All relevant design requirements are defined according to a general SOW
VME, IEEE, PICMG etc.
Mil Specs
Environmental Specs
NASA Specs
Others
Additional Information and Materials if Possible:
o Sample board if available
o Spec sheets organized in individual folders by manufacturer
o Relevant CAD models of the PCB
SALES@WAVETHERM.COM
VPX OVERVIEW & HISTORY
The VPX base standard defined in VITA 46 is a scalable backplane technology designed specifically for high speed, critical embedded systems.
The VITA 46 working group was first launched in 2003. At that time VMEbus systems (first introduced in 1981) were in wide use.
The VPX specification was extended in VITA 48 (VITA REDI, Ruggedized Enhanced Design Implementation) to support the increased operating power of high-density electronic modules by defining the mechanical design requirements to support enhanced cooling methods. VPX REDI also sets standards for the use of ESD covers on both sides of boards. WAVETHERM PROVIDES ENGINEERED PRODUCTS & SERVICES THAT MEET the VPX REDI (VITA 48) standard.
OpenVPX (VITA 65) is a system-level VPX specification designed to address interoperability between VPX boards and backplanes from multiple vendors. It was ratified in 2010.
Additional VITA standards have been ratified to support specific types of connectivity and other issues, and new VITA standards are still being actively worked on by their respective VITA committees.
For a complete history of these VITA standards see https://www.vita.com/History.
Military Applications:
Air
Land
Sea
SPACE.
Mobile commercial
Transport Industry
Machine Industrial control
Outdoor Telecom
Edge and Customer Premise
Equipment
Medical
Enterprise and Data
Digital Imaging
Vibration Class V1
1 hour per axis:
5 Hz to 100 Hz PSD = 0.04 g2/Hz
Vibration Class V2
1 hour per axis:
5 Hz to 100 Hz PSD increasing at 3 dB/octave
100 Hz to 1000 Hz PSD = 0.04 g2/Hz
1000 Hz to 2000 Hz PSD decreasing at 6 dB/octave
Vibration Class V3
1 hour per axis:
5 Hz to 100 Hz PSD increasing at 3 dB/octave
100 Hz to 1000 Hz PSD = 0.1 g2/Hz
1000 Hz to 2000 Hz PSD decreasing at 6 dB/octave
Module operating
temperature:
Air-Cooled -
Min/Max
Inlet Air
Class Temperature
AC1,FC1 0°C 55°C
AC2,FC2 -40°C 55°C
AC3,FC3 -40°C 70°C
AC4,FC4 -55°C 85°C
Conduction-Cooled -
Class Min/Max
CC1 0°C 55°C
CC2 -40°C 55°C
CC3 -40°C 70°C
CC4 -40°C 85°C
Liquid-Cooled -
Inlet Outlet
Class Min/Max
LC1 0°C 50°C
LC2 -40°C 50°C
LC3 -40°C 60°C
LC4 -40°C 70°C
3U Module Dimensions:
3.94ʺ x 6.30” or 5HP
6U Module Dimensions:
9.187ʺ x 6.30” or 5HP
CARD EDGE RESISTANCE VALUES BY WEDGELOCK POSITION
DETERMINE YOUR MODULES' PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS EARLY IN THE DESIGN PROCESS.
COMMON THIRD PARTY ITEMS & INFO
GENERAL INFO RELATED TO THIRD PARTY ITEMS & MANUFACTURERS WHICH MAY CONTRIBUTE COMPONENTS TO YOUR DESIGN.
BERGQUIST
FUJIPOLY
LAIRD
MCMASTER-CARR
SOUTHCO
OTHER USEFUL HEATFRAME DESIGN KNOWLEDGE
WE'VE LEARNED ALL KINDS OF THINGS DESIGNING & FIELDING HEATFRAMES FOR RUGGED SYSTEMS OVER THE YEARS. PLEASE FIND RANDOM KNOWLEDGE HERE FOR CONSIDERATION AS YOU BEGIN YOUR PROJECT.
Thermal advantages (Shorter more efficient thermal path)
Mechanical advantages (Reduced tolerance stack-up in coldwall which can impact backplane alignment and module interface with the coldwall)
Why design primary side wedge lock heat frames? Legacy chassis or PCB layout
Components that primarily transfer heat to the PCB and not thru the LID of the device, for example power components
YES. THE CENTER HOLE IN THE PCB REFERENCE DESIGNS CAN BE MOVED OR REMOVED WITHOUT HARMING THE VIABILITY OF FIELDING A RUGGEDIZED MODULE.
FULL BOM EXCEPT FOR PCB AND ELECTRONICS.
MACHINED HEATFRAME COMPONENTS, THERMAL INTERFACE MATERIALS CUT TO SIZE, WEDGELOCKS, INJECTOR-EJECTORS, AND MOUNTING HARDWARE.
THERMAL ANALYSIS
TYPICAL INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS FOR THERMAL ANALYSIS SERVICES & RELATED INFORMATION.
GENERAL INFO & FAQ'S:
Spreadsheet of hot components showing thermal gradients
Analysis of thermally compromised components and / or high wattage components
Benefits of a thermal analysis
Need to provide an example of a thermal analysis
YES - BUT WE TYPICALLY RECOMMEND CUSTOMERS' PURSUE OTHER, MORE COST-EFFECTIVE, SOLUTIONS.
MATERIAL SPECS.
TYPICAL MATERIALS UTILIZED FOR HEATFRAME DESIGN & RELEVANT ISSUES.
ALUMINUM:
AL6061-T6
AL7075-T6
AL6101-T6
COPPER:
STAINLESS STEEL SS300
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
RDK – Rugged Development Kit – WaveTherm develops products which are called RDK’s or Rugged Development Kits. WaveTherm’s RDK’s
comprise of mechanical parts and knowledge based instructions for how a computer manufacturer can develop products intended for use in harsh environments.
tr𝜇COTS™ – WaveTherm offers a product line for MicroTCA applications which is called truCOTS. These products target off the shelf AMC modules for
ruggedization.
OpenCOTS™ – WaveTherm offers a product line for VPX, openVPX, VME, and cPCI applications which is called OpenCOTS. These products target
manufacturers of single-board computer manufacturers who may desire a standard products-based approach to rugged sbc product development.
CCA or Circuit Card Assembly is a mechanical assembly used to compliment an electronic assembly in a conduction-cooled application.
Conduction-cooling – The transfer of heat by molecular motion from a source of high temperature to a region of lower temperature, tending toward a
result of equalized temperatures.
Rugged Air-Cooled – An electronic assembly secured to withstand various shock and vibration levels which is thermally cooled by forced-air or natural convection.
Hybrid Cooling – An electronic assembly which is cooled simultaneously by conduction-cooling and forced-air or natural convection methods.
Thermal Analysis – WaveTherm has modeled, simulated, and tested many of its products contained in this website. We also offer simulation services
to customers which design their own products or variations of our base products. Simulations can be accomplished for board-level single-board computers, and/or system-level enclosures/chassis. Simulations we support are FEA – Finite Element Analysis and CFD – Computational Fluid Dynamics Analysis.