Heat-shrink tubing has been a staple in the electronics industry for more than 50 years. It is used for sealing, protecting, insulating, strain-relieving, and identifying wires and cables. Today, sustainable design and technological innovations have spurred the development of new heat-shrink products that meet special requirements and expand the range of possible applications.
Power consumption, thermal management, and space limitations are some of the most pressing issues that data center operators face.
At the invitation of U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA), IPC President Dr. John W. Mitchell outlined existing and proposed regulations that negatively impact the electronics manufacturing industry. In a letter to Issa, IPC identified four issues that the company said burden the industry, further contributing to the continued declineRead More
The telecom industry continues to experience better growth than other market sectors due, in good part, to the world’s insatiable appetite for mobile subscriber technology, particularly smartphones. According to Gartner, smartphone manufacturers shipped 472 million of the devices in 2011 and they now compose 31% of the cellphone market. This is a 58% increase fromRead More
Time is running out for connector manufacturers to find a replacement for cadmium that is not just safer, but better. We check in with the companies leading this search.
Sales have slowed down, but there’s no reason to panic: These numbers are acceptable and distributors maintain a positive business outlook. History says it’s all part of the normal business cycle, but Bishop & Associates is keeping a close eye on it.
Hirose has partnered with Micro Interconnects to help design engineers specify and design in DF36 board-to-fine coaxial cable connectors. The 0.4mm pitch, 1.5mm mated height board-to-fine coaxial cable connector for displays, instrumentation, and high-definition imaging applications offers high contact reliability and enhanced shielding, making it ideal for applications in space-restricted areas, such as hand-held devices.Read More
Stress Relaxation II Effects on Performance The February feature, Stress Relaxation I: Mechanisms, Materials and Temperature, described the mechanism of stress relaxation as repositioning of atoms to reduce localized stresses and the resulting loss in contact force, and reduction in mechanical stability. Now, let’s see how that repositioning and force reduction can affect connector performanceRead More
Stress Relaxation I Mechanisms, Materials and Temperature In the metallurgical world, stress relaxation is defined as a time-dependent loss in stress at constant strain. OK, you may ask, but what does that have to do with connectors? It’s all about contact force. The contact normal force is a critical design parameter for connectors, because theRead More
Hertz Stress II Achieving the Right Degree of Resistance In the first Hertz stress article, I cited two limitations of Hertz stress as a connector design parameter. First, a Hertz stress value can be realized by different combinations of contact force and contact geometry, each producing different values of connector contact resistance. Second, variations inRead More
Dr. Bob on Hertz Stress as a Connector Design Parameter I was looking for some information in my files a few weeks ago, when I came across a folder entitled “Hertz Stress.” My mind leapt back 20 years as I recalled discussions that the concept had raised at that time. Using Hertz stress as aRead More
Power Distribution II Signal Contacts in Parallel This is the final article in our series about the distribution of current in power applications. In the previous article in this series, the topic was distribution of current using dedicated high current, several tens of amperes, contacts. This article will address the use of multiple signal—low current,Read More
