How to customize the appropriate non-standard cabinet according to your own requirements?

Identify your own needs

Equipment adaptability:

First of all, it is necessary to accurately count the detailed information of all devices that need to be loaded into the chassis cabinet. Including the size (length, width and height), shape and quantity of the equipment. For example, if servers are to be placed, it is necessary to make clear whether they are 1U, 2U or 4U servers, how many servers are there respectively, and whether there are network devices and storage devices with special shapes. At the same time, the weight distribution of equipment should be considered. For heavy equipment, such as large UPS power supply, it is necessary to ensure that the carrying capacity of the cabinet is sufficient, and the bottom structure can distribute the weight reasonably to avoid local deformation.

Also consider the interface location and cable management of the equipment. Interfaces of equipment (such as power interface, data interface, etc.) need to have appropriate opening positions on the chassis cabinet to facilitate plugging and unplugging cables. According to the number and thickness of the equipment cables, the wiring racks and trunking inside the cabinet are planned to ensure that the cables are neat and orderly, which is convenient for maintenance and heat dissipation.

Environmental considerations:

Physical environment factors: Observe the installation location of the cabinet and consider the space limitation. If you are in a narrow corner of the computer room, you may need to customize an irregular-shaped cabinet that can make full use of space, such as an L-shaped or diagonal cabinet. At the same time, we should consider the temperature, humidity and dust of the environment. In high temperature environment, the cabinet should have good heat dissipation function, such as increasing large area ventilation holes and installing efficient fans or fins; In wet or dusty environment, the sealing performance of the cabinet is better, and measures such as sealing rubber strip and dust-proof filter screen are adopted to prevent moisture and dust from entering.

Electromagnetic environment conditions: If there are strong electromagnetic interference sources (such as large motors and transformers) around the cabinet, or internal equipment is sensitive to electromagnetic interference (such as high-precision electronic instruments), it is necessary to customize the cabinet with electromagnetic shielding function. Metal materials (such as steel plate and aluminum plate) can be used, and good grounding can be ensured. At the same time, electromagnetic sealing gasket is added at the gap to effectively block electromagnetic interference.

Determine functional characteristics

Customization of cooling system:

According to the calorific value of the equipment, the heat dissipation mode is designed. For equipment with slight fever, natural ventilation may be enough. At this time, the position and size of ventilation holes in the cabinet should be designed according to the principle of air convection. Generally, ventilation holes are set at the top and bottom to make hot air naturally rise and exhaust. For equipment with high calorific value, such as high-performance computer cluster, forced air cooling or water cooling system may be needed. Forced air cooling can form a reasonable air duct by installing multiple high-speed fans to quickly take away heat; The water-cooling system is more complicated, so it is necessary to design water-cooling pipes, radiators, etc., which are closely matched with the cooling module of the equipment.

Protection function customization:

Dust-proof and waterproof: according to the possibility of contact between dust and water in the use environment, customize the dust-proof and waterproof level. For example, the outdoor communication cabinet may need to reach the protection level of IP65 or higher, which requires special design of the opening parts of the cabinet (such as ventilation holes, cable entrances and exits, etc.), and measures such as waterproof joints and sealing aprons are adopted to prevent the invasion of dust and water.

Safety protection: consider the safety protection requirements of the cabinet. If you store important equipment or sensitive data, you can customize the cabinet with advanced locks (such as electronic locks, password locks, fingerprint locks, etc.), and design a reasonable access authority system. At the same time, for the environment that may be collided and impacted, it is necessary to strengthen the shell strength of the cabinet, adopt thickened plates and increase stiffeners to improve the impact resistance.

Select the appropriate materials and technology.

Material selection:

Strength and stability: If the cabinet needs to bear heavy weight or pressure, such as placing heavy industrial control equipment, cold-rolled steel plates and other high-strength materials can be selected. Cold-rolled steel plates have good mechanical properties, and the thickness is generally between 1.2 and 2.0 mm, which can ensure the structural stability of the cabinet. For some occasions where the weight is strictly limited but a certain strength is needed, such as the case of aerospace equipment, aluminum alloy material can be selected, which has the characteristics of light weight and high strength.

Corrosion resistance: stainless steel (such as 304 and 316L stainless steel) is a better choice in the environment with corrosion risk (such as chemical workshop and seaside facilities). 304 stainless steel can resist general chemical corrosion, while 316L stainless steel has better resistance to the environment containing strong corrosive media such as chloride ions. For some special chemical corrosive environments, special anticorrosive coatings or composite materials can also be used.

Manufacturing process:

The manufacturing process of the cabinet directly affects its quality and performance. For plate processing, such as bending, stamping and other processes, we must ensure the accuracy. For example, the bending process should ensure the accurate bending angle, and the general tolerance should be controlled within 0.5 to ensure the assembly accuracy of the cabinet. The welding process is also very important. For the metal cabinet, high-quality welding methods such as gas shielded welding are adopted to ensure the weld quality and avoid defects such as air holes and cracks, which will affect the strength and tightness of the cabinet.

Communicate and cooperate with manufacturers.

Design communication:

In the process of customization, it is very important to communicate fully with the manufacturer of chassis and cabinet. Provide detailed requirements documents to manufacturers, including equipment information, environmental conditions, functional requirements, etc. You can make sure that the manufacturer fully understands your needs through drawings, tables, text descriptions and other ways. At the same time, discuss the design scheme with the manufacturer's design team, and optimize and adjust the scheme according to their professional suggestions. For example, according to their production experience, manufacturers may put forward more reasonable cooling duct design or more economical material selection suggestions.

Sample making and testing:

Before mass production, manufacturers are required to make samples. Conduct actual tests on samples to check whether all requirements are met. Including whether the installation of the equipment is appropriate, whether the heat dissipation function is effective, and whether the protection function is up to standard. If problems are found, feedback them to the manufacturer in time to modify and improve the samples. Only after the samples pass the test can mass production be carried out to ensure that the quality of customized non-standard cabinets meets expectations.