Background
The military depends on enclosures that protect specialized electronic equipment from harsh environmental and operating conditions. They often rely on aluminum enclosures due to aluminum’s resistance to extreme temperatures, moisture, dust, and corrosion. Advanced aluminum alloys are also incredibly robust, offering good physical protection for sensitive components.
These advantages make aluminum enclosures a common solution for protecting the processors required to control unmanned military vehicles remotely. Aluminum’s conductivity also helps shield electronics from electromagnetic interference (EMI). Its light weight further allows engineers to create very large aluminum enclosures that are relatively easy to move. Certain aluminum materials offer the same strength as steel at a fraction of the weight.
To achieve these benefits and more, a defense contractor approached Cone Engineering with a project for producing large custom aluminum enclosures that would protect vital electronic equipment in military vehicles.
The Challenge
Cone Engineering approached the size and complexity of the project by strategizing each stage of the production process. The customer’s technical requirements were for a strong but lightweight aluminum enclosure to house sensitive electronic components and protect them from EMI. The project involved practically every aluminum fabrication service we provide, including application engineering, precision laser cutting, bending, welding, finishing, and assembly.
Due to the harsh environmental factors that the component would face in the field, the aluminum enclosure also had to be custom powder coated according to specific military standards. To increase our productivity of this part, we had to create custom jigs and tooling.
The Solution
Constructed of 5052-H32 aluminum in various gauges, the finished aluminum enclosure was strong, lightweight, and made to tight tolerances. Our custom jigs and tooling successfully improved productivity, and we supplied the component with a Federal Standard Desert Sand Powder Coat finish. With our applied engineering approach, we shortened lead times and reduced costs for the customer.
Throughout the project, Cone Engineering maintained an open line of communication with the client in person and via email and phone. We established clear feedback loops to ensure quality was top of mind, and our application engineering process gave the customer confidence in our capabilities. By providing all the required services under one roof, we functioned as a one-stop shop for all their production, manufacturing, and finishing needs.
The Result
The customer liked the flexibility of our production and communication processes, which allowed us to easily pivot according to changes as they arose. The product functioned as intended, and we continue to see more business from this customer with higher order volumes. In fact, Cone Engineering is now this customer’s primary supplier for this entire product.
The component now has proven in-field success with multiple deployments. The enclosure meets all necessary design requirements for military-grade aluminum enclosures:
- Weatherproof: resistance to ice, dust, water
- Mechanical strength and weight requirements
- Tight tolerances (±0.005”) for delicate electronic components
- Specific finishing requirements according to Mil-Spec standards
Aluminum Enclosures by Cone Engineering
These large custom aluminum enclosures are our best-selling product to date. This project has given us the means to tackle similar large-scale production of custom aluminum parts capable of withstanding harsh environmental conditions and use cases. Demonstrating our concept of application engineering, we helped audit the customer’s original design to create an easily manufacturable part.
This case study thoroughly highlights our manufacturing capabilities and quality, particularly how we can accommodate multi-component assemblies as well as multiple sub-assemblies. To learn more about how Cone Engineering can help with your custom aluminum parts manufacturing project, contact us today.