RF-Bracket Design
Mass reduction of a mechanical bracket by redesigning the bracket without compromising on thermal, structural and EMC aspects
R.M.J. Caenen (TU Delft - Aerospace Engineering)
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Abstract
This thesis shows the mass reduction of a mechanical bracket, without compromising on thermal, EMC and structural aspects. The focus was on analysing thermal aspects related to bracket design. Models were made to show the deflection and solder layer stresses due to CTE mismatches between the bracket and PCB. A thermal heat transfer model was built to analyse the temperature distribution over the bracket and PCB. Using these models, the performance of different materials can be analysed. The most promising candidate for bracket design was aluminum silicon. This material was used in the design of a new bracket. The resulting bracket has a mass of 74 g, which is only 8 % of the mass of the original copper bracket.