Particle impact dampers help reduce random vibration in harsh environments

TopLine has introduced a new series of particle impact dampers (PID) to reduce random vibration in PCB board assemblies in harsh environments. “Reducing harmful vibrations extends hardware life and reliability,” states Martin Hart, president. “PID is a COTS commercially-available standard solution, suitable for retrofitting and hardening heritage hardware in the field. After hardening, old hardware is ready for new missions in new operating environments,” he adds. The PID is a mechanical component that surface mounts onto the PC Board. Inside the PID is a payload of freely-moving tungsten balls that move in the opposite direction to the board. This counter motion pulls back the bending of the board and attenuates 10db of vibrational energy. PID technology works at fundamental mode vibration frequencies of 100Hz to 2KHz, and operates over a full range of temperatures without de-rating. PIDs can be solder attached like ordinary components, or attached to the board using permanent epoxy adhesive.