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REO UK LTD
Good EMC Engi neeri ng Practi ces
i n the Desi gn and Constructi on
of I ndustri aI Cabi nets
1 2
Contents 1 Introducti on and background
1. 1 The financial need for these
good EMC engineering
practices
Because of the compl exi ty of modern
i ndustri al i nstrumentati on and control
products and systems, i t i s necessary, for
commerci al and fi nanci al reasons, to
control el ectromagneti c i nterference
(EM ). Added to thi s i s the regul atory
requi rement for the suppl i ers of products
and systems, and owners of premi ses and
si tes i n the European Uni on, to compl y
wi th the el ectromagneti c compati bi l i ty
(EMC) Di recti ve [1 ], especi al l y the very
speci fi c requi rements i n the new EMC
Di recti ve [1 ] for the use of good EMC
engi neeri ng practi ces [2].
Thi s gui de addresses the practical i ssues
of desi gni ng and assembl i ng i ndustri al
cabi nets to better control EM , and to hel p
achi eve EMC Di recti ve compl i ance. For
i nformati on on other EM and EMC
i ssues, such as management, testi ng,
l egal , and theoreti cal background see [2],
[3], [4] and [5] .
Some of the techni ques descri bed here
mi ght contradi ct establ i shed or tradi ti onal
practi ces, but they are al l wel l -proven and
i nternati onal l y standardi sed good modern
EMC engi neeri ng practi ces at the ti me of
wri ti ng. EMC i s a rapi dl y devel opi ng fi el d,
because of the rapi d pace of progress i n
el ectroni cs, computi ng, software, power
control (e. g. vari abl e speed AC motor
dri ves), radi ocommuni cati ons and
wi red/wi rel ess data communi cati ons. The
rapi dl y i ncreasi ng use of these
technol ogi es i n i ndustry means that some
EMC techni ques that mi ght have been
perfectl y adequate i n the 1 960s (such as
si ngl e-poi nt earthi ng, and bondi ng cabl e
shi el ds at onl y one end) are now very bad
EMC practi ce i ndeed. Al l professi onal
engi neers have a duty (professi onal ,
ethi cal , and l egal ) to appl y the l atest and
best knowl edge and practi ces i n thei r
work.
Remember that safety is always
paramount, and should not be
compromised by any EMC techniques.
A typi cal exampl e of such a compromi se i s
fi tti ng EM fi l ters that cause hi gh earth-
l eakage currents that i ncrease safety ri sks.
However, i t i s very i mportant to
understand that where errors or
mal functi ons i n el ectroni c ci rcui ts coul d
possi bl y have i mpl i cati ons for functional
safety (i ncl udi ng duri ng faul ts, foreseeabl e
mi suse, overl oad, or envi ronmental
extremes) merel y meeti ng the EMC
Di recti ve and i ts harmoni sed EMC
standards wi l l al most certai nl y not be
suffi ci ent to achi eve adequate safety ri sk
l evel s. Such an approach woul d al so
al most certai nl y not achi eve compl i ance
wi th the basi c standard on functi onal
safety [6] or the i ndustry standards deri ved
from i t (such as [7] and [8]), or wi th safety
regul ati ons such as the Low Vol tage
Di recti ve [9] and Machi nery Di recti ve [1 0].
Al though the desi gn and assembl y
techni ques descri bed here are often used
to hel p achi eve ' EMC for Functi onal
Safety', a l ot more i s i nvol ved that i s not
covered by thi s gui de for more
i nformati on on thi s, vi si t [1 1 ].
1. 2 These techniques suit a
wide range of applications
Thi s gui de i s concerned wi th i ndustri al
i nstrumentati on and control , but the l aws
of physi cs (hence EMC) appl y to al l
el ectri cal and el ectroni c assembl i es and
systems, regardl ess of thei r appl i cati on, i n
exactly the same way as they do to
i ndustri al cabi nets. An Amp i s sti l l an

Introducti on and background
Creati ng an RF Reference
2
9
Wi ri ng and cabI i ng techni ques
1 6
Bondi ng ci rcui ts and uni ts to the RF Reference
45
Usi ng shi eI ded cabi nets
Preventi ng gaI vani c corrosi on
55
References and further readi ng
68
70
SoI uti ons from REO
72
The Author
73
Product ExampI es
74
3 4
Amp, a mi crovol t sti l l a mi crovol t, and a
MHz i s sti l l a MHz regardl ess of functi on or
appl i cati on. hope that the way have
wri tten and i l l ustrated thi s gui de makes the
techni ques i t descri bes easy to appl y
wherever el ectri cal and el ectroni c
assembl i es are bei ng desi gned and
constructed.
1. 3 EMphenomena and test
standards
REO (UK) Ltd have publ i shed a seri es of
1 7 EMC Gui des [4], whi ch descri be how
the vari ous el ectromagneti c (EM)
phenomena ari se, and how they can cause
probl ems for el ectri cal and el ectroni c
devi ces and ci rcui ts and the appl i cati ons
they are used i n. They then go on to
descri be the European EMC test
standards, whi ch are based on
nternati onal standards devel oped by the
EC, and how to test usi ng them.

Many compani es do thei r own EMC testi ng
accordi ng to European or nternati onal
standards. There are many easi er, qui cker
and l ess costl y ways to do EMC testi ng,
but they are l ess accurate and not as
useful for provi ng l egal compl i ance.
However, they sti l l have val ue i n assessi ng
the sui tabi l i ty of suppl i er's products, desi gn
and devel opment, faul t-fi ndi ng and
probl em-sol vi ng, checki ng workmanshi p
standards and other QA acti vi ti es. For
more on l ow-cost testi ng, see [1 2] .
On-si te test methods exi st for testi ng
equi pment outsi de of an EMC test
l aboratory, wi th i ts careful l y-control l ed EM
envi ronments, and can be used to save
ti me/cost or where equi pment i s too l arge
to be tested i n the normal way. Exampl es
of on-si te methods that can be good
enough to support a cl ai m of EMC
compl i ance are gi ven i n [1 3] .
1. 4 Some basic EMC theory (with
almost no maths)
Thi s gui de focuses on practi cal ti ps and
techni ques, and does not try to expl ai n why
they work. Thi s approach can l eave
engi neers vul nerabl e to speci al si tuati ons
where an unusual approach may be
needed, but tryi ng to convey the theoreti cal
understandi ng requi red to devi se speci al
techni ques i s outsi de the scope of thi s
gui de, and many practi ci ng engi neers woul d
fi nd i t very tedi ous anyway. So suggest
readi ng the references at the end of thi s
arti cl e, and then readi ng their references i f
you sti l l need more background. But here
are a few of the reasons why these EMC
techni ques are needed:
All modern el ectroni cs especi al l y
di gi tal , swi tch-mode, and wi rel ess
empl oy a wi de band of frequenci es from
audi o up to at l east 1 00 MHz, maybe
even up to several GHz (thousands of
MHz). For them to operate correctl y and
to achi eve EMC i t may be necessary to
control some or al l of thei r frequency
range by usi ng EMC techni ques i n thei r
cabl i ng and assembl i es, and i n the
cabi nets that house them.
All conductors have si gni fi cant
i mpedance at frequenci es above a few
MHz, caused by ski n effect (whi ch
i ncreases thei r resi stance) and
i nductance. nductance (L) i s typi cal l y
1 H/metre for an ordi nary wi re (e. g. a
green/yel l ow i nsul ated wi re), gi vi ng a
reactance of 2FIL ohms at frequency I
(e. g. 63 9/m at 1 0MHz). As a resul t,
wi res (even ones wi th green/yel l ow
col oured i nsul ati on) cannot be used to
provi de an effecti ve ci rcui t reference
vol tage at frequenci es above a few MHz
(usual l y much l ess), and so can't provi de
any EM control .
All conductors such as metal work,
wi res and cabl es make good
acci dental antennas', and so l eak a
proporti on of the power and/or si gnal s
they carry i nto thei r external
envi ronment. Thi s i s especi al l y the
case where the conductors are l onger
than one-tenth of a wavel ength (/1 0)
at the hi ghest frequency of concern.
The wavel ength 300/Bwhen Bi s
gi ven i n MHz. Thi s i s a common cause
of EM emi ssi ons probl ems. Shi el di ng
can be used to reduce thi s effect, but i t
i s never 1 00% effecti ve and i f done
i ncorrectl y (e. g. shi el d bonded at onl y
one end) can make the probl em worse.
All conductors such as metal work,
wi res and cabl es make good
'acci dental antennas', and so pi ck-up a
proporti on of the EM energy i n thei r
external envi ronment and so add
vol tage and current noi se i nto the
si gnal s and power they are carryi ng.
Thi s i s especi al l y the case where the
conductors are l onger than /1 0 at the
hi ghest frequency of concern. Thi s i s a
common cause of EM suscepti bi l i ty
(i mmuni ty) probl ems. Shi el di ng can be
used to reduce thi s effect, but i t i s
never 1 00% effecti ve and i f done
i ncorrectl y (e. g. shi el d bonded at onl y
one end) can make the probl em worse.
All conducti ve structures typi cal l y
cal l ed 'earths' or ' grounds' become
i neffecti ve above some frequency
rel ated to thei r di mensi ons and method
of constructi on. Above thi s frequency
they no l onger provi de a stabl e or
effecti ve ci rcui t reference vol tage i n
fact, they become acci dental antennas
i nstead of 'grounds' . At such
frequenci es they cannot provi de EM
control and may even add to EM
probl ems.

The probl ems caused by ' acci dental

antennas' are i l l ustrated i n Fi gures 1 3,
whi ch show how the typi cal wi re and cabl e
l engths i nsi de cabi nets (0. 5 to 3 metres)
can cause the el ectri cal energi es they carry
(whether as si gnal s or power) to i nterfere
wi th the radi o spectrum that i s vi tal for
broadcasti ng and communi cati ons.
The words 'earth' and ' ground' are very
much mi sused i n el ectri cal and el ectroni c
engi neeri ng, l eadi ng di rectl y to a great deal
of confusi on, del ay and unnecessary extra
costs. strongl y recommend that these
words are never used, except when
referri ng to an actual earth or ground
el ectrode that i s buri ed i n the soi l under or
around a si te. Thi s gui de wi l l try to take i ts
own advi ce and use more accurate and
expl i ci t terms such as: chassi s or frame;
shi el ded (screened) encl osure; protecti ve
bondi ng conductor (the green/yel l ow wi re i n
mai ns cabl es, used for safety purposes);
protecti ve bondi ng network (for a cabi net);
common bondi ng network (CBN, for a si te);
and of course, Reference.
As has been i mpl i ed above, correct ci rcui t
operati on and good control of EM and the
achi evement of EMC requi res that we
understand how to desi gn and create a
Reference that i s effecti ve over the ful l
range of frequenci es we need to control ,
especi al l y radi o frequenci es (RF)
frequenci es above 1 50kHz. n some other
publ i cati ons the Reference i s someti mes
cal l ed the RF Reference, Reference Pl ane,
RF Common, or other terms such as 'EMC
Earth' or 'EMC Ground'.
The RF Reference i tsel f must have very l ow
i mpedance over the frequency range to be
control l ed, much l ower than the i mpedance
of the capaci tors i n any EM fi l ters. The onl y
ki nd of structure that can achi eve a l ow
enough i mpedance i s a metal mesh, i deal l y
a metal sheet, whi ch i s why RF References
are often cal l ed Reference Pl anes.
5 6
A ci rcui t' s RF Reference must al ways be
physi cal l y cl ose to the ci rcui t that rel i es
upon i t for operati on or EMC much
cl oser than /1 0 at the hi ghest frequency
to be control l ed (i deal l y /1 00 or even
l ess, e. g. < 30mm for frequenci es up to
1 00MHz). Thi s i s because of al l of the
conductors, i ncl udi ng l arge pi eces of
metal wi th negl i gi bl e resi stance, that
mi ght be used to connect the ci rcui t to the
RF Reference suffer from i nductance and
' acci dental antenna' effects at l onger
di stances.
A metal box of whatever si ze can be used
to shi el d a ci rcui t from i ts external EM
envi ronment, but i t can onl y be used as
the RF Reference for that ci rcui t i f the
ci rcui t i s cl ose enough much cl oser
than /1 0 to one of i ts metal surfaces.
1. 5 Don't rely solely on CE-
marked electronics
Don' t rel y sol el y on usi ng CE-marked
components to assembl e a cabi net. The
'CE + CE = CE' approach whi ch
assumes that as l ong as the components
and products used i n the constructi on of a
cabi net are al l CE marked, the cabi net as
a whol e wi l l compl y wi th al l rel evant
Di recti ves has no techni cal or l egal
j usti fi cati on.
Experi ence al l over the worl d shows that i t
i s very rare i ndeed, for a cabi net
constructed from CE-marked el ectroni c
i tems suppl i ed by other manufacturers to
actual l y meet the rel evant harmoni sed
EMC standards when tested. [1 4] goes
i nto thi s i ssue i n detai l , showi ng how to
spot many of the tri cks that some
manufacturers use when CE marki ng thei r
products, and warni ng of the pi tfal l s that
can compromi se the EMC of the cabi net,
or the system or i nstal l ati on i t i s used i n,
even when al l the components used i n the
cabi net have excel l ent EMC compl i ance
i ndi vi dual l y.
Fig 1
Fig 2
Fig 3
7 8
1. 6 An overall EMC procedure
A procedure that wi l l manage EMC to
achi eve rel i abl e performance and l egal
compl i ance for i ndustri al cabi nets and
si mi l ar wi l l general l y requi re:
Assessi ng the i ntended operati onal
envi ronment for any EM di sturbances,
whether conducted or radi ated, that
mi ght threaten the operati on of the new
cabi net. See [1 5] for more i nformati on
on doi ng thi s.
Assessi ng the i ntended appl i cati on for
the sensi ti vi ty of other el ectroni c
equi pment that mi ght be present, to the
EM emi ssi ons from the new cabi net and
i ts cabl es.
Understandi ng al l of the EMC regul atory
requi rements, for both emi ssi ons and
i mmuni ty, see [2] [4] and [5] .
Deri vi ng an EMC speci fi cati on for the
cabi net and i ts cabl es (usual l y based
around the basi c EC EMC test
standards for emi ssi ons, such as C SPR
22, and i mmuni ty, such as the EC
61 000-4 seri es, see [4] ).
Choosi ng thi rd-party el ectri cal and
el ectroni c uni ts that are known to have
the EMC performance requi red to meet
speci fi cati ons deri ved from the above
steps. Thi s means checki ng thei r test
reports and QA systems, as di scussed
i n [1 4] .
Fol l owi ng the el ectroni c uni t suppl i ers'
reasonabl e EMC i nstructi ons.
Appl yi ng the EMC techni ques descri bed
i n thi s gui de.
Checki ng that the EMC techni ques have
been correctl y appl i ed i n assembl y by
i nspecti on and si mpl e tests (see the l ow-
cost EMC test techni ques i n [1 2]).









Appl yi ng the appropri ate compl i ance
procedures under the ol d or new EMC
Di recti ves [1 ] [2] . EMC testi ng
techni ques are descri bed i n [4] and [1 2] .
Useful i nformati on on the above
procedures can be found i n [1 6] , whi ch,
despi te i ts ti tl e, i s of general rel evance to
systems and i nstal l ati ons of al l types and
the products used i n them.
1. 7 Following good EMC
practices

n the ki nd of EM envi ronments covered by
the generi c i ndustri al EMC test standards
EN 61 000-6-2 and -4, most EMC probl ems
can be sol ved by:
Taki ng care to onl y uti l i se
el ectri cal /el ectroni c that have proven
good EMC performance [1 4] when tested
to those standards or tougher ones
Obtai ni ng and ful l y appl yi ng thei r
suppl i er' s EMC i nstructi ons i n desi gn and
constructi on
Taki ng account of the bui l d-up of
emi ssi ons caused by havi ng mul ti pl e
uni ts [1 7]

Even so, i t i s sti l l advi sabl e to empl oy

good EMC practi ces wherever the uni ts'
suppl i ers provi de no EMC i nstructi ons, or
to hel p resol ve confl i cts between di fferent
uni ts' EMC i nstructi ons.
However, most normal EM envi ronments
are worse than the ones descri bed by any
of the EC or EN EMC test standards,
because they speci fi cal l y do not cover the
si tuati on where portabl e radi o transmi tters
are used nearby whi ch i s now
commonpl ace i n al l envi ronments
(i ncl udi ng i ndustri al ), and cannot be
control l ed wi thout very stri ngent securi ty
measures. The standards al so i gnore a
number of other EM envi ronmental
si tuati ons that can easi l y occur. So i n
al most al l real -l i fe i ndustri al si tuati ons,
and especi al l y where the EM envi ronment
i s more extreme than usual , the use of
good EMC practi ces can be very
i mportant i ndeed for preventi ng costl y l ost
producti on due to i nterference probl ems.
Good EMC practi ces i n the constructi on of
el ectri cal and el ectroni c assembl i es have
been known for decades, and are
conti nual l y evol vi ng to cope wi th the
i ncreasi ng frequenci es bei ng generated
by modern el ectroni c technol ogi es,
especi al l y di gi tal processi ng, swi tch-mode
power conversi on, and wi rel ess voi ce and
data communi cati ons. Rel evant standards
and publ i c-domai n documents on good
EMC practi ces i ncl ude [1 8] [1 9] [20] [21 ]
and [22] , and there are a number of
gui des to good practi ces produced by
compani es that sel l i ndustri al
components, such as [23] [24] and [25].

Good EMC practi ces are often di fferent
from tradi ti onal el ectri cal assembl y and
i nstal l ati on practi ces, and i n some l ong-
establ i shed i ndustri es l arge amounts of
money and ti me are sti l l needl essl y
wasted by fi xi ng EMC probl ems wi th
systems and i nstal l ati ons ari si ng duri ng
operati on, i nstead of by desi gn, because
of an apparent rel uctance to l earn about
EMC or modern techni ques. t i s often the
case that operati onal probl ems aren' t
recogni sed as bei ng EMC-rel ated for
some ti me, and even then take a l ong
ti me to fi x.
Part of good EMC practi ce i s to fol l ow the
EMC i nstructi ons provi ded by the
manufacturers of the el ectroni c uni ts that
are to be used but onl y where these
are reasonabl e and don' t confl i ct wi th
what i s wri tten i n thi s gui de, or wi th each
other. Where manufacturers' i nstructi ons
di ffer or confl i ct, EMC experti se i s
needed. For exampl e, some suppl i ers of
i ndustri al components and modul es
speci fy that shi el ded cabl es must have
thei r shi el ds bonded to ' earth' at onl y one
end, and they often provi de a screw-
termi nal for that purpose. Whi l e thi s may
sometimes be acceptabl e these days i n
some speci al cases, i t wi l l general l y
prevent typi cal i ndustri al cabi nets from
passi ng thei r emi ssi ons and/or i mmuni ty
tests and wi l l therefore general l y l ead to
i naccurate or unrel i abl e operati on as wel l
as non-compl i ance wi th l egal
requi rements.
Such poor EMC i nstructi ons are mostl y
due to a l ack of knowl edge and/or poor
desi gn of the el ectroni c ci rcui ts used for
the i nputs and outputs. They are usual l y
wri tten by compani es who have not tested
emi ssi ons and i mmuni ty, or not tested
them properl y, or tested them usi ng
unreal i sti c set-ups. They sl avi shl y repeat
the bad i nstructi ons i n thei r manual s,
bel i evi ng them to be good EMC practi ce
because they were tol d so 30 years or
more ago.
Good EMC practi ces shoul d general l y be
fol l owed for al l i ndustri al cabi nets, to hel p
the purchased el ectri cal and el ectroni c
i tems achi eve the EM performance they
are capabl e of, and to hel p EM mi ti gati on
measures l i ke fi l teri ng, shi el di ng and
transi ent overvol tage suppressi on,
functi on correctl y. These techni ques
requi re addi ti onal effort and ski l l i n desi gn,
but general l y cost l i ttl e and add very l i ttl e
ti me i n assembl y.
1. 8 Communicating good EMC
techniques within a company
Many compani es have probl ems i n turni ng
the i ntenti ons of thei r desi gners i nto the
constructi ons assembl ed by thei r
assembl y staff. Nowhere i s thi s more
9 1 0
evi dent than i n EMC, where apparentl y
smal l vari ati ons i n cabl e l ength or route, or
component pl acement, can make huge
di fferences.
Whereas i n seri al manufacture there i s
(hopeful l y) ti me al l owed for what i s
constructed to be compared wi th what was
desi gned and any di fferences i terated out
i n custom engi neeri ng, desi gns need to
be transl ated i nto products and systems
wi thout errors at the first attempt i f a
company i s to maxi mi se i ts profi ts and be
successful .
So i t i s i mportant to save ti me and
money that compani es fi nd ways to
communi cate the necessary EMC
assembl y techni ques to thei r assembl y
personnel . Thi s general l y means that the
vari ous constructi on techni ques need to be
documented as Work nstructi ons under a
QA system, and then referenced by the
desi gners on thei r drawi ngs wherever they
need to be appl i ed. A number of i ndustri al
cabi net manufacturers have used the
graphi cs used i n thi s gui de as part of thei r
Work nstructi ons, and the author wi l l be
pl eased to provi de any such company wi th
these graphi cs for such purposes, on
request [26] .
2 Creati ng an RF Reference
2. 1 Introduction to RF
References
Al l i ndustri al cabi nets that contai n two or
more i tems of i nterconnected el ectroni cs
(e. g. a vari abl e-speed motor dri ve and i ts
separate EM fi l ter, a PLC and a 24VDC
power suppl y) shoul d use an RF
Reference to hel p control EMC, whi ch can
usual l y be created usi ng the exi sti ng
cabi net metal work. Thi s secti on descri bes
techni ques for creati ng RF References
wi th useful EM performance from ordi nary
(unshi el ded) cabi net metal work. A l ater
secti on wi l l descri be the good EMC
practi ces associ ated wi th shi el ded
cabi nets.
At frequenci es above a few MHz, onl y a
hi ghl y conducti ve area or vol ume can
achi eve a rel i abl e RF Reference. But an
RF Reference i s onl y of any use i f i t i s a
local one. ' Local ' i n thi s context means that
the cabl es, devi ces and ci rcui ts shoul d
remai n cl ose to the surface of the
Reference at al l ti mes, wi th a spaci ng that
i s l ess than /1 0 at the hi ghest frequency
of concern (e. g. cl oser than 75mm at
400MHz, a typi cal wal ki e-tal ki e
transmi tti ng frequency). Much cl oser
spaci ng gi ves much i mproved EM
performance.
Where a metal chassi s (i deal l y free from
j oi nts and perforati ons), metal cabi net, or
metal encl osure i s used the wal l s, rear,
top, bottom, or door coul d be used as l ocal
RF References. ndustri al cabi nets often
mount thei r el ectri cal , el ectroni c and other
uni ts on a metal backpl ate, or i n a frame or
cage for pl ug-i n modul es or pri nted-ci rcui t
cards. The metal support structures
nearest to the el ectroni cs, such as
backpl ates or card cages, shoul d al ways
form part of thei r l ocal RF References and
have mul ti pl e metal -to-metal bonds to
adj oi ni ng metal structures.
2. 2 Ineffectiveness of wires,
straps and braids
As was di scussed earl i er, green/yel l ow
wi res or brai d straps to a si ngl e poi nt
(someti mes cal l ed a 'star poi nt' ) are
i neffecti ve at provi di ng an RF Reference
at frequenci es above a few hundred kHz
or so, dependi ng on thei r l ength.
Even where el ectroni c uni ts (such as l ow-
frequency anal ogue processi ng) do not
empl oy or emi t RF frequenci es, the
semi conductors i n i t wi l l happi l y
demodul ate and i ntermodul ate any RF
noi se i n thei r ci rcui ts, causi ng i mmuni ty
probl ems, unl ess thei r manufacturers
have taken great care i n thei r EMC
desi gn. Even DC and l ow-frequency
anal ogue el ectroni cs need to empl oy
good EMC practi ces.
2. 3 Highly-conductive metal
plating required, with no
polymer passivation
t i s easi est to use metal structures as
l ocal RF References i f they are fi ni shed
wi th a hi ghl y conducti ve metal pl ati ng that
i s sui tabl e for the physi cal envi ronment
and l i fecycl e of the cabi net (see secti on
6). Onl y metal surface-to-metal surface
bonds have any chance of worki ng
effecti vel y at the hi ghest frequenci es i n
common use today. Non-conducti ve pai nt,
pl asti c coati ngs, or anodi si ng, i ncrease
the i nductance of bonds and reduce thei r
effecti veness at hi gh frequenci es. Where
pai nted or pl asti c-coated surfaces are to
be bonded to, care must be taken to
achi eve a good bond at RF (usual l y
i nvol vi ng l ocal removal of pai nt or pl asti c),
and then to prevent the corrosi on that can
occur because the protecti ve coati ng has
been removed.
n the case of i ndustri al cabi nets fi tted wi th
backpl ates, zi nc-pl ated backpl ates have
become the standard for al most al l cabi net
manufacturers i n recent years, to hel p wi th
RF-bondi ng and EMC. Heavy zi nc or ti n
pl ati ng i s the best conducti ve fi ni sh for
mi l d steel , but someti mes thi nner pl ati ng i s
used wi th an addi ti onal pol ymer
passi vati on l ayer. Unfortunatel y, the
passi vati on i s a thi n pl asti c coati ng and
can rui n RF-bondi ng properti es. t i s often
cl ai med that pol ymer passi vati on i s easi l y
punctured by modest pressure from metal
parts such as the nuts and bol ts typi cal l y
used i n el ectroni c assembl y. However, i t
mi ght prove necessary to use EMC
gaskets, and si nce they woul d not appl y
suffi ci ent contact pressure to break
through the pol ymer fi l m i t i s much better
to standardi se on metal work that rel i es on
good metal pl ati ng to prevent corrosi on,
and avoi d pol ymer passi vati on compl etel y.
Some i ndustri al cabi nets are seam-
wel ded, such as the stai nl ess-steel
cabi nets used i n the food, pharmaceuti cal
and other i ndustri es where hygi ene i s
i mportant. These make excel l ent RF
References, but most i ndustri al cabi nets
consi st of frames to whi ch metal cl addi ng
(ski n) i s appl i ed. These may be fi tted wi th
shel ves for mounti ng l arge i tems of
equi pment (for exampl e the tradi ti onal 1 9-
i nch rack-mounti ng system), or backpl ates
for mounti ng D N rai l s and/or ' chassi s-
mounted' uni ts or modul es. These
cabi nets consi st of many metal parts al l
screwed together, and to make them
functi on useful l y as an RF Reference we
must RF-bond them together al l over the
cabi net. Any metal part i n a cabi net that i s
not RF-bonded to form part of the RF
Reference, i ncl udi ng hi nged doors, i s a
potenti al 'acci dental antenna' as shown i n
Fi gure 3.
1 1 1 2
2. 4 Making effective RFbonds
Fi gures 4 and 5 show the pri nci pl es of RF-
bondi ng between two sheets of metal , the
i mportant i ssues bei ng the achi evement of
suffi ci entl y l ow RF i mpedances i n the
bonds themsel ves, and the maxi mum
spaci ng between the bondi ng poi nts.

Al though Fi gures 4 and 5 show two metal
sheets bei ng bonded to form a l arger RF
Reference, the same techni ques appl y to
any metal parts, and i n three di mensi ons.
Where a metal mesh i s bei ng used i nstead
of a metal sheet or other sol i d metal part, i t
can onl y be rel i ed upon to act as a
moderatel y effecti ve RF Reference up to a
frequency of 1 5/ MHz ( i n metres). Cl oser
mesh spaci ng gi ves the Reference a better
RF performance at any frequency up to
1 5/ MHz.
Fig 4
Fig 5 Fi gures 6 and 7 show detai l s of metal -to-
metal bonds used to connect metal parts
together to create RF Reference pl anes.
Any other ki nds of bonds, i ncl udi ng short
wi de brai d straps, are very i nferi or to
metal -to-metal bonds al though of
course i t depends upon the frequency, and
brai d straps or even bond wi res may be
abl e to provi de a suffi ci entl y l ow-
i mpedance RF Reference, i f the hi ghest
frequency that i s to be control l ed i s no
more than a few hundred kHz.
Fi gure 6 shows the use of aggressi ve
' spi ky' washers and screw threads for RF-
bondi ng two metal i tems that have an
i nsul ati ng fi ni sh, such as pai nt, anodi si ng
or even a pol ymer passi vati on coati ng.
When tryi ng to i mprove the EM
performance of an exi sti ng cabi net, thi s
mi ght be al l that can be achi eved but i t
i s not an i deal method (al though i t i s much
better than usi ng wi res or brai d bonds).
Fig 6
1 3
1 4
As menti oned earl i er, i t i s much better to
desi gn cabi nets i n the fi rst pl ace to use
conducti vel y-pl ated metal parts throughout,
wi th no pai nt or i nsul ati ng fi ni shes appl i ed.
Then the very best and most rel i abl e RF
bonds can be achi eved by usi ng the fi xi ng
screws to press the conducti ng metal
surfaces together. Steel (apart from
stai nl ess) and al umi ni um are unsui tabl e
materi al s on thei r own, they al ways
devel op a hi gh resi stance surface through
oxi dati on, so al ways need to be ti n pl ated
or al ochromed, or some other l ow
resi stance corrosi on-proof fi ni sh.
The RF Reference i n ' 1 9 i nch' rack -
mounti ng cabi nets can be i mproved by
maki ng sure that the front panel s of al l the
racked equi pment make metal -to-metal
bonds to the cabi net frame at thei r
mounti ng poi nts (someti mes cal l ed rack
mounti ng ears). Typi cal mounti ng ears are
made of anodi sed al umi ni um, and because
anodi si ng i s a very tough i nsul ator
they provi de no RF-bondi ng. t i s much
better to use ears wi th hi ghl y conducti ve
pl ati ng, screwed i nto caged nuts i n a
frame that al so has hi ghl y conducti ve
pl ati ng. The 1 9 i nch spaci ng between the
bonds at both si des of the front panel s
means that the RF Reference thus created
has a l ow i mpedance up to about 20MHz
to control hi gher frequenci es more
effecti vel y i t woul d hel p to create RF
bonds al ong the l ong edges of the front
panel s, to the shel ves above and bel ow.
A vari ety of speci al EMC tapes are
avai l abl e from compani es such as 3M,
whi ch can be used to provi de a good hi gh-
conducti vi ty bondi ng surface (usual l y ti n)
i nstead of rel yi ng on pl ati ng. Some types
have a top l ayer of maski ng tape so that
the metal parts can be pai nted, then the
maski ng tape removed to reveal the metal
surface where the bondi ng i s to take
pl ace.
Fig 7
Spot-wel di ng i s as good or better than
pressi ng metal -to-metal at fi xi ng poi nts,
rememberi ng to space them cl oser
together to al l ow for the ones that don' t
work. Seam-wel di ng (or brazi ng or seam-
sol deri ng) al ong al l j oi nts i s even better,
and i s used where the hi ghest RF
performance i s requi red.
An al ternati ve to seam
wel di ng/brazi ng/sol deri ng i n the creati on
of an RF Reference i s to use conducti ve
gaskets, often cal l ed EMC gaskets, to
provi de l ow-i mpedance bondi ng al l al ong
a metal j oi nt. Such gaskets are mostl y
used to create EMC shi el ded cabi nets,
and the way i n whi ch they are used to
hel p create RF References i s no di fferent.
Usi ng gaskets i nstead of mul ti pl e screw
fi xi ngs and/or wel di ng hel ps speed the
assembl y, and di sassembl y of cabi nets.
2. 5 Using gaskets effectively
There are many suppl i ers of such
gaskets, and each one offers very many
di fferent gasket materi al s i n many
di fferent styl es (see Fi gures 8 and 9 for
some exampl es of j ust two types of
gasket materi al s) because no one type of
gasket i s sui tabl e for al l appl i cati ons. Thi s
gui de wi l l not di scuss gaskets and thei r
use i n any detai l , except to say that when
assembl ed they shoul d be compressed to
an amount wi thi n thei r manufacturers
recommended range and thi s can
requi re consi derabl e pressure. Good
EMC gasket manufacturers provi de a
weal th of data and appl i cati on assi stance
(for exampl e [27] ), coveri ng the correct
choi ce of gasket materi al s and styl es for
parti cul ar appl i cati ons, and the data
requi red for correct mechani cal desi gn.
Even gaskets that are easi l y squashed fl at
between two fi ngers can requi re very l arge
compressi on forces when used i n l ong
stri ps, so the effecti ve use of gaskets
requi res careful mechani cal and fi xi ng
desi gn to prevent metal parts from
bendi ng too much. t i s not unusual to fi t
stri ps of very soft conducti ve gaskets to
the door of an i ndustri al cabi net, onl y to
fi nd that i t becomes al most i mpossi bl e to
cl ose, and once cl osed i t bends l i ke a
banana openi ng up l arge gaps that defeat
the purpose of the gasketti ng.
1 5 1 6
Fig 8
Fig 9
3 Wi ri ng and cabI i ng techni ques
3. 1 Routing send and return
paths close together
Al l el ectri cal and el ectroni c power (AC or
DC) and si gnal s (whether data, control ,
anal ogue, i nputs, outputs, etc. ) have a
current that fl ows i n a l oop from the
source to the l oad (dri ver to recei ver) and
back agai n. t i s vital for EMC that the
area encl osed by thi s l oop i s as smal l as
possi bl e, whi ch means that we must
provi de a wi re for the send current path,
and a conductor for the return current
path, and route them together i n the
cl osest possi bl e proxi mi ty over thei r whol e
route, as shown i n Fi gure 1 0.
t i s best to twi st the send and return
conductors together, to make a twi sted-
pai r cabl e (someti mes twi sted tri pl es or
quads are requi red i nstead, for i nstance
for three-phase AC wi th ei ther three or
four wi res). Shi el ded (screened) twi sted-
pai rs can al so be used and are very good
i ndeed for EMC, but coaxi al cabl es are not
as good, and ri bbon cabl es and bundl es of
i ndi vi dual wi res can cause bi g probl ems
for EMC.
Fi gures 1 1 and 1 2 show some methods for
i mprovi ng the EMC of unshi el ded wi res.
For more i nformati on on getti ng the best
EMC performance from wi re bundl es and
cabl es (unshi el ded or shi el ded), see the
2006 versi on of [28] .
Fig 10
1 7 1 8
Fig 11
Fig 12
Where thousands of amps of current are
i nvol ved, twi sti ng the send and return
conductors can cause i nsul ati on damage
due to the el ectromechani cal forces on
the conductors but i nsi de i ndustri al
cabi nets such currents are carri ed by sol i d
busbars anyway. Busbars cannot be
twi sted, and thei r separati on means that
thei r currents create hi gh l evel s of
magneti c and el ectri c fi el ds i n thei r
vi ci ni ty, whi ch can be a probl em for
nearby el ectroni cs. Busbars can make
excel l ent ' acci dental antennas' for any RF
vol tages or currents they carry, so fi l teri ng
may be needed to reduce thei r l evel s of
RF, or el se the cabi net may need to be
shi el ded.
The best busbars for EMC use sol i d
i nsul ati on (i nstead of ai r) and very cl ose
spaci ng between bars carryi ng send and
return currents. n three-phase mai ns
suppl i es, or three-phase motor dri ve
cabl es, each of the phases i s the return
for the others.
3. 2 Routing cables close to the
RF-bonded metalwork
As di scussed i n 1 . 4, an RF Reference i s
onl y useful for assi sti ng or i mprovi ng the
EM performance of a ci rcui t i f i t i s l ocal
meani ng cl oser than /1 0 at the hi ghest
frequency to be control l ed (e. g. cl oser
30mm to control up to 1 00MHz) much
cl oser spaci ng means better EMC. Thi s
secti on di scusses techni ques for achi evi ng
the appropri ate spaci ng for wi re bundl es
and cabl es. Secti on 4 di scusses the
spaci ng and bondi ng of el ectroni c uni ts
wi th respect to the RF Reference.
Wi res and cabl es, and bundl es of wi res
and cabl es, shoul d never fl y through the
ai r. They shoul d i nstead be routed al ong
thei r entire l engths as cl ose as possi bl e to
metal work that has a conti nuous
conducti ve path wi th a l ow RF i mpedance,
al l the way back to the RF Reference
pl ane, as shown i n Fi gure 1 3.
Fig 13
1 9 20
Thi s metal work creates a preferenti al
return path for the common-mode (CM)
currents that l eak from al l wi res and cabl es
(even shi el ded ones), reduci ng the
acci dental antenna effects shown i n Fi gure
3, and further i mproves EMC by provi di ng
the wi res and cabl es wi th what i s known as
an 'i mage pl ane'. The wi der the metal , the
l ower the RF i mpedance and the better the
i mage pl ane, so the better the EMC. f the
metal structure i s a part of the RF
Reference, bonded to other parts of the
Reference as descri bed i n secti on 2
above that woul d be i deal for EMC.
ndustri al cabi nets that use backpl ates
general l y use pl asti c trunki ng for thei r
wi res and cabl es, and the tendency i s to
si mpl y stuff al l the wi res and cabl es i nsi de
the trunki ng and cl i p i ts l i d on. But where
the send and return conductors are si ngl e
wi res i t woul d be better to twi st them or at
l east ti e them together i n a bundl e (see
Fi gure 1 1 ) before pl aci ng them i n the
trunki ng, so that they cannot l i e too far
from each other.
Pl asti c trunki ng hel ps to keep conductors
reasonabl y cl ose to the backpl ate (whi ch
i s al ways the RF Reference) but some of
the wi res and cabl es mi ght l i e as much as
50 or even 75mm above i t, whi ch does not
gi ve the best EM performance. t woul d be
better for EMC to use 'shorter' trunki ng,
that keeps conductors cl oser to the
backpl ate, at l east for the more EMC-
cri ti cal cabl es (Cl asses 1 and 4, see 3. 3
bel ow), or el se ti e these cabl es di rectl y to
the backpl ate.
Fi gures 1 4 and 1 5 show how to deal wi th
the routi ng of wi res and cabl es i n corners
and across j oi nts i n the RF Reference.
Fig 14
Fig 15
Conductors carryi ng power or si gnal s
shoul d not go too cl ose to the edge of the
metal structures they are routed cl ose to.
Where practi cal thei r di stance from the
edge of the metal shoul d be at l east three
ti mes thei r hei ght above i t, and thi s i s
especi al l y i mportant for Cl asses 1 and 4
(see 3. 3).
Where conductors connect to el ectroni c
pri nted ci rcui t boards (PCBs), uni ts,
modul es or other products, they shoul d be
routed very cl ose to the RF Reference as
much as i s possi bl e al ong thei r enti re
l ength. deal l y, the PCBs, uni ts, etc. , wi l l
al so be RF-bonded to the Reference (see
secti on 4), and i f they have a metal body
the conductors shoul d be routed cl ose to
that unti l reachi ng thei r connectors or
termi nal s.
Fi gure 1 6 i l l ustrates thi s for a packaged
uni t, whi l e Fi gure 1 7 shows a fl at cabl e to
a PCB. Shi el ded cabl es shoul d have thei r
shi el ds bonded to the RF Reference at
thei r ends, or as cl ose to thei r ends as
possi bl e, and thi s i s di scussed i n secti on
3. 7.
21 22
Fig 16
Fig 17
3. 3 Segregating different
Classes of conductors
Cabl es i nsi de a cabi net shoul d be spl i t
i nto at l east 4 cl asses, based on the
gui dance i n [1 8] , as fol l ows:
CI ass 1 i s for conductors carryi ng very
sensi ti ve power or si gnal s. Low-l evel
anal ogue si gnal s such as mi l l i Vol t
output transducers and radi o recei ver
antennae are i n Cl ass 1 A. Hi gh-rate
di gi tal communi cati ons such as
Ethernet are i n Cl ass 1 B. Cl asses 1 A
and 1 B shoul d not be bundl ed together,
al though thei r bundl es may be run
adj acent to each other.
Al l Cl ass 1 cabl es shoul d use ful l y
shi el ded cabl es and connectors over
thei r enti re path, wi th 360 shi el di ng
mai ntai ned throughout, from end-to-
end (see [28] ). Unshi el ded twi sted-
pai rs are commonl y used for Ethernets
and si mi l ar data cabl es, but they are
general l y not as good for achi evi ng the
ful l data rate or EMC as shi el ded
twi sted pai rs of otherwi se i denti cal
speci fi cati on.
CI ass 2 i s for conductors carryi ng
sl i ghtl y sensi ti ve power or si gnal s, such
as ordi nary anal ogue (e. g. 4-20mA, 0-
1 0V, and si gnal s under 1 MHz), l ow-
rate di gi tal communi cati ons (e. g.
RS422, RS485), and di gi tal i nputs or
outputs (i . e. on/off si gnal s, not seri al or
paral l el datacommuni cati ons; for
exampl e si gnal s from l i mi t swi tches,
encoders, pushbuttons, etc. ).
CI ass 3 i s for sl i ghtl y i nterferi ng power
or si gnal s, such as l ow vol tage AC
di stri buti on (< 1 kV) or DC power (e. g.
48V tel ecommuni cati ons power), where
these do not al so power noi sy
apparatus. Power di stri buti on that al so
feeds noi sy equi pment may be
converted from Cl ass 4 to Cl ass 3 by
the correct appl i cati on of fi l teri ng (not a
tri vi al exerci se, see [29] ).
Cl ass 3 al so embraces control ci rcui ts
wi th resi sti ve and i nducti ve l oads, where
the i nducti ve l oads are suppressed at
the l oad (e. g. the el ectri cal coi l s of
rel ays, contactors, sol enoi ds, actuators,
val ves, etc. ); di rect-on-l i ne (DOL) AC
motors, and so-cal l ed ' sparkl ess' or
'pancake' DC motors.
CI ass 4 i s reserved for strongl y
i nterferi ng power or si gnal s. Thi s
i ncl udes al l the power i nputs or outputs
(to or from) vari abl e-speed AC motor
dri ves; frequency converters; AC-AC
and AC-DC power converters and thei r
DC l i nks, and DC-DC power converters.
Cl ass 4 al so appl i es to the cabl es
associ ated wi th el ectri cal wel ders; RF
equi pment (e. g. pl asti c wel ders, wood
gl uers, di athermi c apparatus,
mi crowave dryers and ovens); DC
motors or sl i pri ngs; and si mi l ar 'noi sy'
apparatus. Cabl es to RF transmi tti ng
antennae and unsuppressed i nducti ve
l oads are al so Cl ass 4. Al l Cl ass 4
cabl es shoul d use shi el ded cabl es and
connectors wi th 360 shi el di ng
mai ntai ned throughout, from end-to-end
(see [28]).
The swi tch-mode power el ectroni c
ci rcui ts used i n vari abl e-speed AC
motor dri ves; frequency converters; AC-
AC and AC-DC power converters; DC-
DC power converters and the l i ke
(i ncl udi ng most types of uni nterrupti bl e
power suppl y) produce very hi gh l evel s
of RF noi se on thei r power i nputs and
outputs, whi ch i s why they shoul d be
assumed to be Cl ass 4 i n the absence
of any EMC test data. However, thei r
i nputs and outputs can be fi l tered to
23 24
reduce thei r cabl es to Cl ass 3, or even to
Cl ass 2.
For exampl e, most chassi s-mounted and
modul ar DC power suppl i es contai n
i nput and output fi l ters and are cl ai med
by thei r suppl i ers to compl y wi th the
rel evant emi ssi ons standards (usual l y
C SPR 22, EN 55022, EN/ EC 61 000-6-3
or EN/ EC 61 000-6-4). Fi l ters are
avai l abl e from numerous suppl i ers for
the mai ns i nputs of al l swi tch-mode
power converters, and responsi bl e
manufacturers of converters shoul d at
l east recommend whi ch makes/model s
shoul d be used to be sure of compl yi ng
wi th rel evant conducted mai ns emi ssi ons
standards i f they are not al ready
i ncorporated i n thei r uni t. A few fi l ter
manufacturers al so make fi l ters sui tabl e
for fi tti ng at the output of swi tch-mode
power converters, ei ther to remove the
worst of the RF noi se, or to convert the
output waveform i nto a si newave or DC
(as appropri ate) wi th varyi ng degrees of
puri ty.

Most vari abl e-speed AC motor dri ve
manufacturers speci fy the use of a
shi el ded cabl e 360 bonded at both
ends, for thei r motor cabl es, but when
fi tted wi th a sui tabl e ' si nusoi dal output
fi l ter' thei r motor cabl es can be treated
as Cl ass 3 i nstead. The cost of such
fi l ters appears to di scourage many
i ndustri al cabi net desi gners from usi ng
them, but overal l there are usual l y
si gni fi cant fi nanci al and EMC benefi ts to
be had i n usi ng them to el i mi nate Cl ass
4 shi el ded cabl es and thei r segregated
routes from the fi nal i nstal l ati on.
These four cl asses shoul d be physi cal l y
segregated wi thi n the cabi net at al l ti mes,
and as Fi gure 1 8 shows, l ong paral l el runs
shoul d not be any cl oser than 1 00mm, i f
possi bl e, as wel l as bei ng run as cl ose as
possi bl e to the RF Reference. f cabl es of
di fferent cl asses must cross over each
other, they shoul d onl y do so at ri ght
angl es. Greater spaci ngs are requi red for
paral l el routes outsi de the cabi net, as
shown by the l ower part of Fi gure 1 8, but
good EMC engi neeri ng techni ques for
systems and i nstal l ati ons are not the
subj ect of thi s gui de (see [3] i nstead).
The above cl assi fi cati on i s based on the
power and si gnal s that are intended to be
i n the conductors, but i t mi ght be
necessary to i ncrease the cl assi fi cati on of
a conductor dependi ng on other factors.
For exampl e, many modern el ectroni c
devi ces have /O si gnal s that woul d
appear to be rel ati vel y beni gn i n EMC
terms (e. g. audi o outputs, i nputs from
pushbuttons, thermocoupl e i nputs,
i ndi cator l amp outputs). What i s often not
real i sed i s that where there i s di gi tal
processi ng or swi tch-mode power
conversi on wi thi n a uni t, these /Os can
carry hi gh l evel s of unrel ated CM noi se
that can have a very si gni fi cant RF
content. Harmoni cs of di gi tal cl ocks and
data busses are usual l y the chi ef cul pri ts,
often causi ng emi ssi ons i n the hundreds of
MHz from conductors ostensi bl y carryi ng
very i nnocuous si gnal s.
Home-made cl ose-fi el d probes and l ow-
cost portabl e spectrum anal ysers, such as
those shown i n Fi gure 1 9, can be used as
descri bed i n Parts 1 and 2 of [1 2], to
i denti fy such probl ems earl y i n a proj ect.
They hel p choose i ndustri al components
that have fewer EMC probl ems, and/or
hel p choose the appropri ate type of
shi el ded cabl es and connectors (see [28])
and/or choose appropri ate fi l ters, such as
cl i p-on ferri te suppressi on chokes (see
[29]) so that cabl es can be bundl ed
wi th others of the same Cl asses wi thout
causi ng i nterference.
Fig 18
Fig 19
25 26
Another probl em ari ses wi th cabl es
exposed to the strong RF fi el ds near the
antennas of radi o transmi tters such as
GSM, GPRS, Wi -Fi , Bl uetooth, 3G or other
radi o transmi tti ng devi ces often
i ncorporated i nto i ndustri al systems these
days, or where cabl es are exposed to
powerful RF fi el ds from radi o or TV
broadcasti ng stati ons, hand-hel d wal ki e-
tal ki es, vehi cl e mobi l es, and RF producti on
equi pment such as i nducti on furnaces,
di el ectri c heaters, pl asti c wel ders or
seal ers, mi crowave dryers, etc. Thi s i s
especi al l y a probl em for cabl es that l eave
or enter a cabi net, so are exposed to the
external EM envi ronment. Thi s i ssue i s
deal t wi th by assessi ng the external EM
envi ronment as descri bed i n [1 5] , then
choosi ng the appropri ate types of cabl es
and connectors, and/or fi l teri ng so that
cabl es exposed to such fi el ds can be
bundl ed wi th others of the same cl asses
wi thout causi ng i nterference.
The recommended spaci ngs between
cabl e cl asses, as shown i n Fi gure 1 8, are
based upon a number of assumpti ons
about the types of cabl es and the ci rcui ts
i n the el ectri cal /el ectroni c uni ts connected
to the cabl es, and real -l i fe experi ence, and
so they are at best a very rough gui de and
cannot be expected to be adequate i n al l
cases. ncreasi ng the number of cabl e
cl asses used to fi ve si x or more; i ncreasi ng
the spaci ng between paral l el routes, and
routi ng cl oser to the RF Reference are al l
ways of i mprovi ng EM performance more
than woul d be achi eved by the above
gui de.
Actual l y testi ng cabl es (when they are
operati ng wi th thei r i ntended power/si gnal s
and l oads) wi th cl ose-fi el d probes and
spectrum anal ysers, as di scussed above,
i s a very bi g hel p i n removi ng the
guesswork from thi s whol e i ssue, and i s
general l y recommended no matter what
EM speci fi cati ons suppl i ers cl ai m thei r
products meet.
3. 4 Reducing Class spacings
Where wi res and cabl es cannot be routed
cl ose enough to the RF Reference, the
spaci ngs between paral l el routed cabl es of
di fferent cl asses shoul d be si gni fi cantl y
i ncreased beyond the recommendati ons i n
Fi gure 1 8.
Where practi cal consi derati ons prevent the
achi evement of the i deal spaci ngs
between cl asses, usi ng conductors wi th
i mproved EM performance wi l l reduce the
spaci ngs requi red. Thi s techni que
i nvol ves.
Addi ng more return conductors i n wi re
bundl es, see Fi gures 1 1 , 1 2 and the
2006 versi on of [28]
Repl aci ng strai ght send/return wi res i n
bundl es wi th twi sted pai rs, tri pl es or
quads as appropri ate
Repl aci ng unshi el ded (unscreened)
cabl es by shi el ded types usi ng correct
shi el d termi nati ons at both ends, see
[28]
Repl aci ng shi el ded (screened) cabl es
by types wi th a hi gher shi el di ng
speci fi cati ons and/or hi gher-qual i ty
termi nati ons at both ends, see [28] .

t i s possi bl e to i mprove the EM

performance of conductors by so much,
that al l the cl asses can be bundl ed
together. The l i mi ti ng factor i s usual l y the
connectors provi ded by the manufacturers
of the el ectri cal /el ectroni c uni ts used i n the
cabi net. For exampl e, screw-termi nal or
pl asti c-bodi ed connectors make i t di ffi cul t
to termi nate cabl e shi el ds correctl y (thi s
requi res 360 bonds not pi gtai l s see
[28]).
Even where D-type connectors wi th metal
bodi es are provi ded i f the manufacturer
of the uni t has not correctl y bonded the D-
type to hi s uni ts i nternal RF Reference,
the EM performance avai l abl e from 360
termi nati ng the cabl e shi el d wi l l be
wasted. t makes good sense to consi der
such aspects of equi pment before
purchasi ng them.
t i s al so possi bl e to i mprove the EM
performance and reduce the spaci ngs
between cl asses by i mprovi ng the filtering
appl i ed to the el ectri cal /el ectroni c uni ts at
one or both ends of the conductors. t i s
i mpracti cal to open up purchased uni ts to
i mprove thei r i nternal fi l teri ng, so i t i s
more usual to add external fi l ters to the
cabl es at the poi nt where they enter/exi t
the uni ts.
The easi est types of fi l ters to add to
cabl es are ferri te chokes, a wi de range of
whi ch are avai l abl e from many
manufacturers to sui t round or fl at cabl es,
many of them avai l abl e i n spl i t form wi th
pl asti c cl i ps that make i t easy to cl i p them
onto exi sti ng cabl es, as shown i n Fi gure
20.
Cabl e-mounted ferri tes are avai l abl e i n
di fferent materi al s, to suppress di fferent
ranges of frequenci es, so i t obvi ousl y
hel ps to choose the appropri ate type. f the
probl em frequenci es are unknown, they
can be found wi th a cl ose-fi el d probe and
spectrum anal yser such as shown i n
Fi gure 1 9, or wi th the CM cabl e-current
probe shown i n Fi gure 5 of Part 1 of [1 2] .
t i s al so possi bl e to connect fi l ters such as
those shown i n Fi gure 21 i n seri es wi th
cabl es, to i mprove thei r EM performance,
reduce cabl e Cl ass spaci ngs, or even to
change a cabl e from one Cl ass to a l ower.
Whereas addi ng ferri te chokes such as
those i n Fi gure 20 i s qui te strai ghtforward,
there are a number of detai l ed i ssues
surroundi ng the effecti ve use of fi l ters that
contai n capaci tors, such as those i n Fi gure
21 . Some of these i ssues are di scussed i n
secti ons 4. 7 and 5. 2, but for more detai l
pl ease read [29] .
Fig 20
27 28
Someti mes fi l teri ng and shi el di ng can be
effecti vel y appl i ed together. For i nstance,
where a shi el ded cabl e can onl y achi eve a
poor shi el d termi nati on (e. g. a pi gtai l , see
secti on 3. 7. 6), a ferri te cl amped over the
cabl e at that end can i mprove matters.
3. 5 Segregating cables in
industrial cabinets that use
backplates
The vari ous el ectroni c, el ectri cal , pneumati c,
hydraul i c, etc. , uni ts shoul d be l ocated to
keep sensi ti ve uni ts such as transducer
ampl i fi ers or programmabl e l ogi c control l ers
(PLCs) wel l away from el ectri cal l y noi sy
uni ts such as rel ays and contactors or
vari abl e-speed AC motor dri ves ('i nverters'),
to hel p prevent them from i nterferi ng wi th
each other. They shoul d al so be l ocated so
as to ai d the segregati on of the cabl e
cl asses. Fi gure 22 i s a sketch of a real -l i fe
i ndustri al control panel , usi ng an ordi nary
unshi el ded cabi net, whi ch was desi gned
accordi ng to thi s gui de and successful l y
tested for EMC compl i ance.
Fig 21 Fig 22
Noti ce that the Cl ass 1 and 2 cabl es i n
Fi gure 22 are run i n the same trunki ng
thi s was a compromi se that was fel t to be
acceptabl e because thi s panel was qui te
smal l , and al so because there were very
few Cl ass 1 si gnal s and they were not very
sensi ti ve. There i s nothi ng wrong wi th
compromi se, i t i s the l i fe-bl ood of
engi neeri ng after al l , but i t i s very
i mportant that peopl e competent i n the
di sci pl i nes i nvol ved (EMC i n thi s case)
determi ne such compromi ses, case-by-
case.
As i n Fi gure 22, i t i s best to try to have no
i nternal Cl ass 4 cabl es at al l , or at l east
mi ni mi se thei r i nternal l engths as much as
possi bl e. Thi s means fi tti ng uni ts such as
i nverter motor dri ves near to the wal l of the
cabi net so that thei r motor dri ve cabl es
(Cl ass 4) can exi t di rectl y, and fi l teri ng any
Cl ass 4 i ncomi ng cabl es (e. g. very noi sy
mai ns suppl i es) as cl ose as possi bl e to
thei r poi nt of entry to make them Cl ass 3
or 2. Fi gure 23 shows more detai l of the
motor dri ve area of the cabi net from Fi gure
22. The manufacturer' s EMC i nstructi ons
Fig 23
29 30
Fig 24
the ones wi th the hi ghest l evel s of RF
noi se (rel ays, contactors, swi tch-mode
power converters such as vari abl e-speed
AC motor dri ves and the l i ke, etc. ) far
away from the uni ts that are the most
sensi ti ve (computers, PLCs, di spl ays,
transducer ampl i fi ers,
tel ecommuni cati ons, etc. ).
Where the rack-mounted uni ts are
purchased from a vari ety of suppl i ers
there wi l l probabl y be no consi stency at al l
between thei r rear-panel connector
l ayouts, and often no segregati on
between di fferent cabl e cl asses ei ther. n
such cases i t i s i mportant to determi ne
whi ch cabl es bel ong to whi ch Cl ass, and
segregate them as cl ose as possi bl e to
the rack uni ts so that they can be bundl ed
wi th thei r own Cl ass for routi ng wi thi n the
cabi net.
Creati ng an RF Reference for conductors
to be routed agai nst i s not as easy when
Fig 25
usi ng a rack cabi net, as i t i s for a backpl ate-
type i ndustri al cabi net. General l y, i t requi res
provi di ng hori zontal shel ves for the rack uni t
to stand upon (as wel l as the uni ts bei ng
bonded to the frame vi a thei r rack-mount
'ears'). These shel ves shoul d extend wel l
beyond the rear panel s of the uni ts, and be
RF-bonded to verti cal metal sheets at the
si des of the cabi net. Cabl es enteri ng/exi ti ng
the rear panel s of the racked uni ts can then
be routed cl ose to thei r uni ts shel ves, where
they wi l l be sorted out i nto thei r Cl ass
bundl es, then those bundl es routed to the
si de sheets to run verti cal l y between the
shel ves.
Of course, al l the shel ves and verti cal
sheets shoul d be RF-bonded to each other
and to the frame and other metal parts of
the cabi net, as shown i n Fi gures 4 7, to
hel p create a good RF Reference as
descri bed i n secti on 2, and the cabl es or
cabl e bundl es shoul d be routed as shown i n
Fi gures 1 4 and 1 5.
for thi s vari abl e-speed AC motor dri ve
requi red the use of a speci fi ed ferri te
toroi d wi th a speci fi ed number of turns on
i t, pl us the use of shi el ded motor cabl e
wi th the shi el d termi nated 360 (see [28])
to the motor dri ve' s metal chassi s, and
al so at the motors metal termi nal box (a
typi cal requi rement for i nverter dri ves that
do not have 'si nusoi dal output' fi l ters fi tted
to thei r motor cabl es very cl ose to the
dri ve).
Fi gure 24 shows the remai nder of the
route of the bundl e of cabl es i n the top
l eft-hand-corner of Fi gure 22, whi ch are
l eavi ng the backpl ate area to connect to
el ectroni c uni ts mounted on the door of
thi s ordi nary unshi el ded i ndustri al cabi net.
The cabl es are run cl ose to the l ocal RF
Reference over thei r whol e l ength, whi ch
means exi ti ng the backpl ate at one of the
poi nts where i t i s RF-bonded to the
cabi net wal l or frame, actual l y ti ed down
i n such a way that i t fol l ows the route of
the RF bond as near as possi bl e. t i s then
routed al ong the wal l or frame unti l i t
crosses to the door strapped to a short
brai d that RF-bonds the door to the
cabi net wal l . Hi nges cannot be rel i ed upon
to el ectri cal l y bond doors to cabi nets, as
they usual l y contai n grease or pl asti c
i nserts. n a wel l -shi el ded cabi net the door
wi l l be bonded al l around by a conducti ve
gasket, so i t does not matter where the
cabl es cross the hi nge area.
3. 6 Segregating cables in rack-
mounted equipment
Where the desi gn of the rack-mounted
uni ts can be control l ed, for exampl e when
they are made by the same company, they
shoul d segregate thei r rear-panel
connectors to faci l i tate the segregati on of
cabl e cl asses wi thi n the cabi net, as shown
i n outl i ne i n Fi gure 25.
Noti ce al so that Fi gure 25 shows how the
racked uni ts shoul d be organi sed to pl ace
31 32
Some i ndustri al cabi net manufacturers
make thei r own rack chassi s uni ts, usual l y
where they need functi ons not avai l abl e as
a standard product, or where they hope to
reduce cost. Fi gure 26 shows an exampl e
provi di ng general gui dance for the
pl acement of el ectroni c uni ts and routi ng of
i nterconnecti ng cabl es wi thi n a uni t. t
shows the sensi ti ve uni ts kept far away
from the ones that create the most RF
noi se (the di gi tal processi ng and the
swi tch-mode power suppl y), and the
cabl es routed cl ose to the metal chassi s
and segregated by functi on i n a si mi l ar
manner to the Cl ass structure di scussed
earl i er.
Thi s gui de i s not i ntended for the
manufacturers of el ectri cal /el ectroni c uni ts
i t i s meant for i ndustri al cabi net
manufacturers who purchase such uni ts
from thi rd-party suppl i ers. Compani es that
wi sh to know more about the good EMC
practi ces i n the desi gn and assembl y of
el ectri cal /el ectroni c uni ts are
recommended to read and appl y al l of the
Fig 26
seri es that i ncl udes [28] [29] [30] and [31 ] ,
and they wi l l al so fi nd [1 2] useful .
3. 7 Bonding cable shields
(screens) to the RFReference
3. 7. 1 Bondi ng cabI e shi eI ds at both
ends i s good EMC engi neeri ng
practi ce
Cabl e shi el ds shoul d general l y be bonded
to thei r l ocal RF References at both ends.
Thi s i s because a shi el ded cabl e that i s
onl y bonded at one end can onl y provi de
good shi el di ng performance up to a
frequency at whi ch i ts l ength becomes a
si gni fi cant fracti on of the wavel ength. The
hi gher the shi el di ng effecti veness requi red
for the cabl e, the smal l er the fracti on of a
wavel ength permi tted. To put some rough
gui del i nes to thi s: for shi el di ng of around
20dB at a gi ven frequency wi th the shi el d
onl y bonded at one end the cabl e
l ength shoul d be l ess than one-twenti eth
of the wavel ength at that frequency.
For exampl e, at 400MHz (cl ose to a typi cal
transmi tti ng frequency for wal ki e-tal ki es
used i n i ndustri al premi ses) one
wavel ength i n ai r i s 0. 75m, and one-
twenti eth of that i s 37. 5mm. Thi s means
that shi el ded cabl es whi ch have thei r
shi el ds bonded at one end onl y, shoul d be
no l onger than 37. 5mm to mai ntai n a
shi el di ng effecti veness of at l east 20dB at
up to 400MHz (to hel p prevent cl ose
proxi mi ty of wal ki e-tal ki es resul ti ng i n
i nterference). f cabl es need to be l onger
than thi s (and most wi l l be) they wi l l need
to have thei r shi el ds termi nated at both
ends.
Of course, nothi ng i s as si mpl e as thi s, and
most types of fl exi bl e shi el ded cabl es wi l l
be l osi ng thei r shi el di ng effecti veness by
400MHz. Brai ded cabl es general l y gi ve
better shi el di ng performance than wrapped
foi l types, and are easi er to termi nate i n
360 fi tti ngs i n connectors and gl ands. The
better brai d-shi el ded cabl es general l y have
good opti cal brai d coverage, and doubl e-
brai d or brai d-and-foi l may be used to gi ve
even better performance at hi gher
frequenci es. The very best fl exi bl e shi el ded
cabl es are the (expensi ve) 'superscreened'
cabl e types, whi ch empl oy mul ti pl e
shi el di ng brai ds as wel l as at l east one
l ayer of ' MuMetal ' tape.
Another probl em wi th bondi ng a cabl e's
shi el d at onl y one end, i s that i t then cannot
provi de any shi el di ng at al l from some
ori entati ons of magneti c fi el ds. Shi el di ng
from these requi res a current to fl ow i n the
shi el d from one end to the other, whi ch
can' t happen i f the shi el d i s onl y bonded to
the Reference at one end.
n some more extreme i ndustri al
envi ronments there can be si gni fi cant
potenti al di fferences between the l ocal RF
References of i tems of equi pment l ocated
i n di fferent areas of the si te. These
vol tages are usual l y at the frequency of
the AC power suppl y, typi cal l y ei ther 50 or
60Hz. Bondi ng both ends of the shi el ds of
cabl es that i nterconnect these i tems can
cause hi gh l evel s of shi el d current to fl ow.
Thi s i s a probl em for the i nstal l ati on rather
than the i nternal assembl y of a product,
and i s deal t wi th by the use of techni ques
such as the meshed common bondi ng
network (MESH-CBN) and the paral l el
earthi ng conductor (PEC) both of whi ch
are descri bed i n more detai l i n [3] and [1 8] .
However, cabi nets shoul d be desi gned to
al l ow thei r i nstal l ati on to use good EMC
engi neeri ng practi ces, so shoul d provi de
fi xi ngs sui tabl e for the connecti ons of the
external PECs (whi ch coul d be wi res,
ducts, armour, trays, etc. ) see [3] and
[1 8].
Wi th properl y desi gned el ectroni cs, the
onl y si gni fi cant consequences of shi el d
currents i s heati ng of the cabl es so-
cal l ed 'hum l oop' or 'ground l oop' noi se are
a consequence of poor el ectroni cs desi gn,
whi ch al l ows cabl e shi el d noi se currents to
fl ow di rectl y i nto el ectroni c ci rcui ts (usual l y
by connecti ng the cabl e shi el d di rectl y to
the ci rcui t' s 0V). Thi s i ssue i s outsi de the
scope of thi s arti cl e, but i s deal t wi th i n
more detai l i n secti on 2. 6. 8 of the 2006
versi on of [28].
Of course, i ndustri al cabi net
manufacturers usual l y rel y on thi rd-party
suppl i ers for thei r el ectroni c uni ts, whi ch i s
why i t i s best for them to careful l y check
the EMC i nstal l ati on i nstructi ons for any
uni t, modul e or product they are
consi deri ng, to fi nd out i f they require any
cabl e shi el ds to be bonded at onl y one
end (there are other thi ngs to di scover too,
see [1 4]). Thi s i s typi cal l y an i ndi cati on of
poor desi gn for EMC, al though i n some
equi pment i ntended for use i n expl osi ve
atmospheres, i t mi ght someti mes be
necessary for safety reasons.
34 33
3. 7. 2 Capaci ti ve and hybri d shi eI d
bondi ng
f, for some reason, bondi ng the shi el d at
both ends i s i mpracti cal , i t may prove
acceptabl e to connect a short-l eaded
cerami c capaci tor from one end of the of
the cabl e's shi el d to i ts l ocal RF Reference
(i nstead of di rectl y bondi ng i t 360 metal -
to-metal ). Thi s method i s someti mes cal l ed
hybri d shi el d bondi ng, because one end
has a di rect bond to i ts l ocal RF
Reference, whi l e the other has a capaci ti ve
bond. ( f both ends use capaci tors i n seri es
wi th thei r shi el d termi nati ons thi s i s known
as capaci ti ve shi el d bondi ng. )
The frequenci es and frequency ranges
over whi ch capaci ti ve and hybri d bondi ng
are effecti ve depend upon the types of
capaci tors used and thei r val ues. The
l engths of the capaci tors' l eads and any
wi res or conductors attached to them
shoul d always be mi ni mi sed.
The capaci tors shoul d be rated for the
vol tages they have to wi thstand, and i n the
case of cabl es external to the cabi net and
l onger than about 1 0 metres they shoul d
be rated to wi thstand overvol tage surges
and transi ents of at l east 500V, and maybe
as much as 1 0kV, dependi ng on the
i nstal l ati on. These surges are typi cal l y
caused by l i ghtni ng el ectromagneti c pul se
(LEMP) and al so by i nduced coupl i ng from
mai ns cabl es or l i ghtni ng conductors
carryi ng l i ghtni ng surges that mi ght be
routed nearby. There may al so be other
sources of surge or transi ent overvol tages
i n some types of i nstal l ati on, such as l arge
AC or DC motors control l ed by
el ectromechani cal contactors, capaci tor
banks (e. g. for power factor correcti on), or
superconducti ng magnets.
Where safety i s a concern, the capaci tors
used may need to be safety-rated (and i t i s
recommended that they are purchased as
safety-approved and thei r approval
certi fi cates checked wi th thei r i ssui ng
bodi es to make sure they are not forgeri es. )
Unfortunatel y, wi thout usi ng speci al (and
expensi ve) annul ar capaci tors i t i s di ffi cul t
to make capaci ti ve shi el d bondi ng work wel l
at the hi gher frequenci es bei ng used by
modern el ectroni c equi pment, or work wel l
over a wi de range of frequenci es. So hybri d
shi el d bondi ng i s a techni que best kept i n
reserve to deal wi th speci al si tuati ons, such
as where 360 bondi ng at both ends i s not
possi bl e for some reason and the
frequenci es for whi ch the cabl e needs to
have good shi el di ng are grouped i nto a
fai rl y narrow range.
Where a cabi net provi des for cabl e shi el d
bondi ng at both ends, on-si te repl acement
of di rect bonds by capaci tors i s not too
di ffi cul t, and removi ng the bonds al together
(shoul d i t prove necessary) i s very easy.
However, i f the cabi net was desi gned to
have i ts cabl e shi el ds bonded at onl y one
end onl y attempti ng to fi t capaci tors or
360 bonds at the other ends to sol ve EMC
probl ems on-si te or duri ng compl i ance
testi ng can be very di ffi cul t and ti me-
consumi ng.
3. 7. 3 It i s best not to use a cabI e's
shi eI d to carry the return current
Wherever possi bl e, never use the shi el d of
a cabl e as the return conductor for the
el ectroni c si gnal s (di gi tal , control or
anal ogue) or el ectri cal power carri ed by i ts
conductors al ways use a twi sted pai r, or
twi sted tri pl e, or twi st whatever number of
conductors i t takes to ful l y embrace al l the
send and return current paths for a gi ven
power or si gnal connecti on.
Coaxi al cabl es are often thought to be the
best for control l i ng RF, because of thei r
wi despread use i n RF and EMC test
equi pment but i n such appl i cati ons the
cabl es are al ways used as matched
transmi ssi on l i nes, rarel y the case i n the
i ndustri al worl d. When not used as
matched transmi ssi on l i nes i n a
control l ed-characteri sti c-i mpedance
i nterconnecti on system, coaxi al cabl es
are not as good for EMC as shi el ded
twi sted pai rs, because they carry thei r
return current i n thei r shi el d, i nstead of i n
a dedi cated conductor. [28] goes i nto thi s
i ssue i n more detai l .
3. 7. 4 Techni ques for bondi ng cabI e
shi eI ds to the RF Reference
External cabl es enteri ng a cabi net shoul d
have thei r shi el ds RF-bonded to the
cabi net's l ocal RF Reference as soon as
they cross i ts boundary. Thi s appl i es even
though they may al so be bonded
i nternal l y to the same Reference at
another pl ace, for i nstance at an
el ectroni c uni t (see secti on 4).
An obvi ous way to bond a shi el d to the
RF Reference i s wi th a shi el d-bondi ng
Fig 27
connector, such as the types shown i n
Fi gure 27 (a D-type) and Fi gure 30 (a
bayonet-l ocki ng ci rcul ar connector), wi th
the chassi s-mounted mati ng connectors
themsel ves bonded metal -to-metal to the
RF Reference at the edge where the cabl es
enter or exi t the cabi net.
The D-type i n Fi gure 27 shows the cabl e
shi el d bonded usi ng a saddl ecl amp, whi ch
does not real l y provi de a 360 shi el d
termi nati on but neverthel ess i s often an
acceptabl e al ternati ve. Some D-types
requi re the assembl er to make a pi gtai l
from the brai d or the drai n wi re of a foi l -
wrapped shi el d, and trap i t under a spri ng
cl i p or screw head or sol der i t to the body of
the connector, l i ke the connector shown i n
Fi gure 28. These types are al l noti ceabl y
i nferi or to the saddl ecl amp method shown
i n Fi gure 27. D-type backshel l s are al so
avai l abl e that provi de a proper 360 shi el d
termi nati on, and these are general l y
preferred.
Many shi el ded D-type connector backshel l s
do not provi de a strai n rel i ef cl amp for the
cabl e j acket. n such si tuati ons, where the
Fig 28
Fig 29
very best EMC performance i s not
requi red, i t i s usual to fol d the shi el d back
over the outer j acket and cl amp both the
shi el d and j acket at the same ti me. But
thi s makes the EMC performance depend
greatl y on workmanshi p, so where the
best EMC performance i s requi red as wel l
as strai n rel i ef, a D-Type (or any other
type of connector) shoul d provi de 360
bondi ng of the undisturbed shi el d pl us a
strai n rel i ef cl amp for the cabl e' s overal l
j acket.
Some connector manufacturers offer
shi el di ng backshel l systems for D-Type
and other mul ti way rectangul ar
connectors that combi ne both shi el d-
bondi ng and strai n rel i ef functi ons i n a
cri mp accessory that attaches a metal
fl ange to the cabl e the fl ange bei ng
cl amped by the backshel l when the
connector i s fi nal l y assembl ed, as shown
i n Fi gure 29.
Shi el ded i ndustri al connectors are
avai l abl e i n round and rectangul ar styl es
that wi l l take very l arge number of pi ns,
and carry si gnal s or power up to hi gh
currents. Fi gure 30 shows a cross-secti on
Fig 30
of a ci rcul ar connector that achi eves a
very hi gh qual i ty of 360 bond between
cabl e shi el d and connector body, and al so
provi des a strai n rel i ef and envi ronmental
seal .
Many other types of connector and shi el d
termi nati on exi st, but onl y those that make
a 360 el ectri cal bond between the cabl e's
shi el d, the connector' s backshel l , and the
mati ng connector's backshel l (or the
mounti ng panel of the mati ng connector)
work wel l for EMC. Any connector bondi ng
techni que that i nvol ves di sturbi ng the l ay
of the foi l or brai d of the cabl e shi el d, or
extendi ng i t wi th wi res (see the secti on on
'pi gtai l s' bel ow) wi l l compromi se the
shi el di ng performance of the cabl e and/or
the connector.
Shi el ded cabl e gl ands can be used
i nstead of connectors; to bond shi el ds to
the RF Reference as a cabl e enters/exi ts
an RF Reference, as shown i n Fi gure 31 .
Gl ands that bond wi th uni form pressure al l
around an undi sturbed cabl e shi el d (e. g. a
360 bondi ng 'i ri s' spri ng or ' kni tmesh'
gasket) general l y gi ve the best RF
performance, and an exampl e of thi s type
35 36
Fig 31
i s shown i n the top l eft of Fi gure 31 . Thi s
type of gl and uses the same desi gn
pri nci pl es as the ci rcul ar connector
sketched i n Fi gure 30, and i s general l y the
best type to use for good EMC
performance.
The type shown at the bottom-ri ght of
Fi gure 31 rel i es upon the assembl er
cutti ng the brai d and spreadi ng i t over a
pl asti c part before assembl i ng i t to the
metal part that bonds to the RF Reference.
Al though thi s type of gl and has a l ower
cost, the extra work requi red to assembl e i t
costs more, and there i s al so the
possi bi l i ty that the assembl er wi l l not
spread the cut brai d evenl y, or make other
mi stakes that degrade EMC performance.
Some manufacturers of cabi nets or
termi nal s sel l thei r own cabl e shi el d
bondi ng accessori es. As l ong as they
provi de 360 (ful l ci rcl e) bondi ng directly
between the cabl e shi el ds and the surface
of the l ocal RF Reference they wi l l gi ve
good performance. But beware some of
these attach the cabl es' shi el ds to metal
bars that have appreci abl e i nductance, and
these then usual l y connect to the l ocal RF
Reference by a wi re or brai d strap
addi ng even more i nductance.
Fig 32
Mass shi el d termi nati on as shown i n the
bottom-ri ght of Fi gure 31 i s a l ow-cost
techni que rel yi ng on cl ampi ng a number of
exposed shi el ds between conducti ve
gaskets. t i s qui te easy to desi gn si mi l ar
shi el d bondi ng methods i nto, say, the base
of cabi net, usi ng si mpl e metal work and
standard gasket types, as shown i n Fi gure
32. Thi s type of desi gn easi l y outperforms
many of the propri etary shi el d-bondi ng
accessori es offered by cabi net or termi nal
manufacturers.
Another method of mass-termi nati ng cabl e
shi el ds i s shown i n Fi gure 33. Li ke Fi gure
32, thi s method can be easi l y adapted to
sui t a vari ety of si tuati ons.
Fi gure 34 shows two exampl es of
termi nati ng cabl e shi el ds as they enter or
exi t the RF Reference pl ane i n an
i ndustri al cabi net that uses a backpl ate.
The saddl ecl amp method can al so use P-
cl i ps, whi ch do not provi de as good a
shi el d termi nati on as a saddl ecl amp,
whi ch i n turn i s not as good as a proper
360 shi el d bond. But P-cl i ps may be
perfectl y acceptabl e where the EMC
performance i s not requi red to be the
hi ghest. Saddl ecl amps and P-cl i ps used to
Fig 33
37 38
have to be obtai ned from pl umbi ng,
pneumati c or hydraul i c component
suppl i ers, maybe because the parts were
too l ow-cost to be of i nterest to other
manufacturers. However, there are now
some EMC component suppl i ers who offer
saddl ecl amps and P-cl i ps for cabl e shi el d
bondi ng.
Where shi el ded cabl es don't empl oy
shi el ded connectors at thei r ends or at
j uncti ons, and use unshi el ded connectors
such as D N rai l termi nal s i nstead, thei r
unshi el ded conductors degrade thei r EMC
performance. Fi gure 35 shows how to use
metal saddl e-cl amps (or P-cl i ps) to bond
the cabl e shi el ds to RF Reference as cl ose
as possi bl e to the unshi el ded termi nal s.
The mi ni mum l ength of conductors shoul d
be exposed, al l the same l ength, as short
as possi bl e and routed as cl ose as
possi bl e to the RF Reference.
Fi gure 35 shows D N rai l mounted
termi nal s, but they coul d i nstead be screw
or sol der termi nal s or unshi el ded
Fig 34
connectors on an el ectroni cs uni t. Where
the unshi el ded connector i s mounted on
an el ectroni c uni t, the best pl ace to bond
the shi el d i s to the metal (or metal l i sed)
body of the el ectroni cs uni t i tsel f, cl ose to
the connector, but i f thi s i s not possi bl e the
nearest l ocal RF Reference shoul d be
used i nstead general l y the metal
surface the el ectroni c uni t i s mounted on.
A number of practi cal al ternati ves to
saddl e-cl amps exi st, and the i nventi ve
desi gner wi l l have no troubl e i n creati ng
new constructi ons to ease assembl y of hi s
cabi nets. The EMC performance of the
unshi el ded connectors and exposed cabl e
conductors wi l l not be very good, but thi s
desi gn techni que ai ms to make i t as good
as possi bl e wi thout changi ng to a shi el ded
connector.
The EM performance of a shi el d bonded
wi th a P-cl i p wi l l general l y not be as good
as one bonded to i ts RF Reference by a
saddl ecl amp, but because the EM
performance of the unshi el ded connectors
Fig 35
i s so poor, usi ng P-cl i ps mi ght not make i t
very much worse. Fi gure 36 shows an
exampl e of an i ndustri al panel usi ng P-
cl i ps to bond the shi el ds.
Where shi el ded cabl es are routed to
unshi el ded termi nal s or connectors that
are not very cl ose to the RF Reference,
the hei ght of the bracket i n Fi gure 33 can
be i ncreased to ' extend' the RF Reference
cl oser to the termi nal s and provi de a
means for bondi ng the shi el ds nearby.
Al though the metal bracket adds
i nductance and so has a del eteri ous effect
at hi gher frequenci es, i t i s orders of
magni tude better than pi gtai l i ng the
shi el ds (see bel ow).
Si mi l arl y, a tal l bracket coul d be used to
support a conducti ve gasket cl amp such
as that i l l ustrated i n Fi gure 32, or a P-cl i p
or saddl ecl amp as shown i n Fi gures 34
36, cl ose to the termi nal s or connectors. A
tal l thi n metal bracket i s not very much
better than a pi gtai l (see bel ow) at
termi nati ng a shi el d such brackets
shoul d be at least three ti mes as wi de as
they are tal l , and have mul ti pl e metal -to-
metal bonds to the RF Reference al l al ong
thei r l ength, spaced no further apart than
1 00mm.
f i t i s not practi cal to make a good RF
bond at the end of a shi el ded cabl e usi ng
the methods descri bed above (or si mi l ar
techni ques), make a good RF bond to the
RF Reference as cl ose as possi bl e to the
end of the cabl e, then conti nue the shi el d
after thi s bond ri ght up to the end of the
cabl e i ncl udi ng the shi el ded connector
backshel l where one can be fi tted.
3. 7. 5 Some addi ti onaI shi eI d
bondi ng techni ques
Al l cabl e shi el d bondi ng methods shoul d
make a ti ght fi t al l around the peri phery of
thei r cabl e's shi el d (but wi thout crushi ng
the cabl e), and thi s ti ght fi t must not
become l oose wi th age, wear and tear. t
i s al ways best not to di sturb the l ay of a
39 40
Fig 36
cabl es' shi el d when 360 bondi ng to i t, but
where l ower shi el di ng performance i s
acceptabl e a l onger l ength of brai d shi el d
can be 'scrunched up' to make a ti ght fi t i n
a sl i ghtl y l oose saddl e-cl amp or connector
backshel l shi el d cl amp.
Wi th foi l shi el ded cabl es i t i s i mportant to
make sure that the metal surface of the foi l
makes a 360 contact wi th the connector
backshel l or other shi el d bondi ng method.
One si de of the foi l i s non-conducti ve
pl asti c, and of course i s not sui tabl e for
shi el d bondi ng. Where i t i s the i nternal
surface of the foi l that i s conducti ve, the foi l
wi l l need to be fol ded back, and wi th a
spi ral -wrapped foi l cabl e thi s i s di ffi cul t to
do neatl y and ensure a 360 bond. t i s
al so i mportant for any drai n wi res i n the
foi l -shi el ded cabl e to be bonded al ong wi th
the metal l i sed foi l surface. Where a foi l
shi el ded cabl e i s a l i ttl e l oose i n a shi el d
cl amp, i t mi ght be possi bl e to wrap the
drai n wi re over the exposed metal l i sed foi l
surface a few ti mes to make a more
rel i abl e cl amp.

t has been common practi ce for many
years to use the drai n wi re as the sol e
means of bondi ng foi l -shi el ded cabl es, but
thi s creates a ' pi gtai l ' (see bel ow) and
rui ns the EM performance of the cabl e.
Because of the di ffi cul ti es associ ated wi th
maki ng a 360 bond to metal l i sed-foi l
shi el d materi al s, and the resul ti ng
suscepti bi l i ty to vari ati ons i n workmanshi p,
brai d rather than foi l -shi el ded cabl es are
general l y preferred.
3. 7. 6 Pi gtai I s maki ng the best of
a very poor EMC techni que
t has been common practi ce for decades
to bond cabl e shi el ds usi ng short l engths
of twi sted brai d, or the drai n wi res i n foi l -
shi el ded cabl es, or by sol deri ng a wi re to
ei ther of these to reach a di stant shi el d
bondi ng poi nt. These days, and for the
future, thi s i s a terri bl y bad practi ce that
effecti vel y rui ns the shi el di ng performance
of the cabl e.
The author has measured emi ssi ons from
i ndustri al cabi nets that fai l ed the radi ated
tests around 70MHz because a si ngl e
cabl e from the vol t-free contacts of a PLC
had a 25mm l ong pi gtai l to the RF
Reference pl ane (the cabi net' s backpl ate i n
that case). Repl aci ng that very short pi gtai l
wi th a metal saddl ecl amp that pressed the
shi el d agai nst the backpl ate reduced the
emi ssi ons around 70MHz by over 20dB
and the test was passed.
Fi gure 37 shows the effect of a pi gtai l on
the surface transfer i mpedance (Z
T
) of a
25-way submi ni ature D-type connector. Z
T

i s a measure of how wel l a cabl e or
connector wi l l functi on as a shi el d l ower
Z
T
at a gi ven frequency means hi gher
shi el di ng at that frequency. A Z
T
of around
1 0 mi l l i ohms i s general l y adequate for
average l evel s of shi el di ng, but hi gh l evel s
of shi el di ng requi re 1 mi l l i ohm or l ess.
Fi gure 37 shows that the shi el di ng
effecti veness (SE) of a submi ni ature D-
Type usi ng a pi gtai l for i ts cabl e shi el d
bond i s average at frequenci es up to about
20kHz, but above that frequency
progressi vel y reduces unti l by 1 MHz the
SE i s unacceptabl y bad. Compari ng thi s
wi th the proper 360 shi el d bondi ng shows
that at 1 00MHz the 360 shi el d termi nati on
i s 75dB better than the pi gtai l .
t has been a common practi ce among the
peopl e who wi re i ndustri al cabi nets to stri p
about 300mm of shi el d from the
conductors at the ends of shi el ded wi res
and sol der a l ong l ength of green/yel l ow
i nsul ated wi re to the brai d or drai n wi re.
The (now unshi el ded) conductors are
connected to the D N rai l or other termi nal ,
Fig 37
41 42
and the green/yel l ow wi re taken to an
'earth' termi nal that mi ght be up to 1 . 5
metres away (a substanti al copper bondi ng
bar, usual l y cal l ed the 'mai n earthi ng bar' ,
i s a common choi ce). Al l the spare
conductors are hi dden i n the pl asti c
trunki ng, so that the conductors that exi t
the trunki ng appear short neat and ti dy.
Thi s practi ce shoul d no l onger be
permi tted under any ci rcumstances, for the
reasons descri bed bel ow.
The pi gtai l used i n the tests summari sed i n
Fi gure 37 was about 30mm l ong and
that was l ong enough to compl etel y rui n
the cabl e's Z
T
(and hence i ts SE) above
1 MHz. Longer pi gtai l s, even i f they are
green/yel l ow i nsul ated or even brai d
straps, wi l l have even worse SE. Al so, the
bundl i ng of al l of the excess l engths of
unshi el ded conductors i n the pl asti c
trunki ng hel ps ensure l ots of crosstal k
between the si gnal s on those wi res and
other cabl es qui te possi bl y what the
cabl e shi el di ng was supposed to be
preventi ng i n the fi rst pl ace.
Someti mes al l that i s needed i s an
average l evel of SE up to about 1 00kHz,
for i nstance to reduce the coupl i ng of
50/60Hz el ectri c and magneti c fi el ds from
mai ns power cabl es and devi ces i nto
sensi ti ve transducer si gnal s such as those
from thermocoupl es, strai n gauges and
the l i ke. Al so, vari abl e-speed motor dri ves
and other swi tch-mode power converters
rated at 1 kW or more create hi gh l evel s of
el ectri c and magneti c fi el ds bel ow 1 MHz,
so i n some cases shi el di ng may onl y be
requi red for frequenci es bel ow 1 MHz. And
where unshi el ded termi nal s such as D N
rai l s are used, i t may prove di ffi cul t to
achi eve good SE at frequenci es much
above 1 MHz i n any case.
So we need a method of usi ng pi gtai l s as
effecti vel y as possi bl e, and Fi gure 38,
usi ng the exampl e of D N-rai l termi nal s,
shows thi s. A si mi l ar arrangement may be
used at the unshi el ded termi nal s of
el ectroni c uni ts. To get the best EM
performance from a pi gtai l , the exposed
conductors and the pi gtai l from a cabl e
Fig 38
Fig 39
shoul d be as short as i s possi bl e,
consi stent wi th the practi cal needs of
assembl y (say, around 30 mm), and
where possi bl e they shoul d be kept cl ose
together by i nterl eavi ng the shi el d
bondi ng termi nal s wi th the si gnal
termi nal s as shown i n Fi gure 38. But
remember that pi gtai l ed shi el ds are never
goi ng to be much use for EMC above
1 MHz.
When usi ng D N rai l termi nal s to connect
pi gtai l s to the l ocal RF Reference, the
metal D N rai l i tsel f shoul d be bonded
metal -to-metal di rectl y to the Reference at
both ends, and at other posi ti ons al ong i ts
l ength, preferabl y every 1 00mm or l ess.
Pl aci ng shi el d-bondi ng termi nal s (usual l y
col oured green/yel l ow to i ndi cate they are
bonded to the D N rai l and so are at
' earth' potenti al ) ei ther si de of the
si gnal /power termi nal s al so hel ps provi de
a l i ttl e shi el di ng for them, al though thi s
cannot be expected to have any
si gni fi cant effect above about 1 0MHz. On
no account shoul d the green/yel l ow
termi nal s used for bondi ng cabl e
shi el ds ever be grouped together at
one end of a D N rai l , for ' neatness'.
The RF performance of pi gtai l s can be
useful l y i mproved by usi ng two pi gtai l s
for each cabl e. They shoul d be
sol dered to ei ther si de of the cabl e, and
connect to termi nal s ei ther si de of
those used by the cabl e's conductors,
as shown by Fi gure 39.
43 44
4 Bondi ng ci rcui ts and uni ts to the RF Reference
As di scussed i n secti on 2, an RF
Reference i s onl y useful for assi sti ng or
i mprovi ng the EM performance of a ci rcui t
i f i t i s l ocal meani ng cl oser than /1 0 at
the hi ghest frequency to be control l ed (e. g.
cl oser than 30mm, to control up to
1 00MHz) much cl oser spaci ng means
better EMC. Secti on 3 descri bed how best
to route and bond cabl es wi th respect to
the RF Reference; thi s secti on di scusses
techni ques for bondi ng el ectri cal /el ectroni c
ci rcui ts, uni ts, modul es, products, etc. , to
the Reference.
Thi s secti on assumes the use of pl ai n
unshi el ded l ow-cost metal cabi nets, and
the techni ques descri bed are i ntended to
get the best EMC performance from them
wi thout addi ng much (i f anythi ng) to cost.
Secti on 5 di scusses the good EMC
engi neeri ng practi ces associ ated wi th the
use of shi el ded cabi nets.
4. 1 Protective bonding (safety)
conductors
Fi gure 40 shows the connecti on of the
i ncomi ng protecti ve conductor (often
cal l ed the protecti ve or safety earth; the
green or green/yel l ow conductor i n the
mai ns suppl y cabl e) to the protecti ve
earthi ng (PE) poi nt of a cabi net. Al though
thi s bond i s pri mari l y a safety concern, i t
hel ps to achi eve the best EMC
performance from the cabi net i f the
amount of protecti ve conductor exposed
wi thi n the cabi net i s 1 50mm or l ess.
Bondi ng i t to the outside of the cabi net
woul d be the best for EMC, but for safety
reasons i t needs to be l ocated cl ose to the
mai ns termi nal s. ts bondi ng termi nal i s
preferabl y wel ded to the cabi net si de or
rear, al though i t coul d be screwed. For
safety reasons the best type of wel ded
stud i s one that penetrates the cabi net
from the other si de, so that i f the wel d fai l s
i t i s sti l l retai ned i n pl ace and doesn't j ust
pul l free.
Fig 40
For i ndustri al motor control cabi nets, the
safety standard EN 60204-1 requi res no
more than one protecti ve conductor per
termi nal . Thi s requi rement appears to be
wi del y i gnored, for exampl e wi th cabi nets
bei ng wi red usi ng several ri ng tags
' starred' to a si ngl e stud, or wi th two or
more green/yel l ow wi res connected i nto
i ndi vi dual D N rai l 'earth' termi nal s,
maki ng many i ndustri al motor control
cabi nets non-compl i ant wi th safety
regul ati ons. A si ngl e 'earth' protecti ve
bondi ng wi re per termi nal i s good advi ce
for any i ndustri al cabi net, so that i f a panel
(say) i s removed and i ts protecti ve
bondi ng wi re di sconnected, thi s does not
remove the protecti ve bondi ng for
anythi ng el se.
So to bond the backpl ate to the protecti ve
conductor recommend a separate
wel ded or screwed stud termi nal near to
the i ncomi ng ' safety earth' termi nal (pl us a
suffi ci ent cross-secti onal area of metal
between the two, see secti on 4. 6), as
shown i n Fi gure 22.
Many control panel bui l ders i nstead use a
Fig 41
sol i d metal termi nal bl ock (usual l y cal l ed
the ' mai n earthi ng bar') bonded rel i abl y to
the cabi net wal l as thei r ' safety earth' star
poi nt, as shown i n Fi gure 41 . When usi ng
such bars, a stud that bonds the bar to the
cabi net's metal wal l shoul d be l ocated
i mmedi atel y adj acent to the pl ace where
the i ncomi ng protecti ve conductor i s
connected.
t i s al ways best to seam-wel d al l the parts
of a cabi net' s structure together, or el se
spot-wel d them at mul ti pl e poi nts al ong
thei r j oi ns, or fi x them together wi th
mul ti pl e screws or ri vets that provi de
metal -to-metal bondi ng as di scussed i n
secti on 2 to hel p create the best
possi bl e RF Reference for the cabi net. But
where i t i s necessary to bond them usi ng
wi res, straps or brai ds, Fi gure 41 shows
the basi c pri nci pl es for a cabinet in which
safety and RF-bonding can be safely
combined (see secti on 4. 6).
Fi gures 22 and 41 are exampl es of
protecti ve bondi ng i n typi cal i ndustri al
cabi nets fi tted wi th a backpl ate, and
45 46
assume that the cross-secti onal -area
(CSA) of the cabi net wal l i s suffi ci ent to
handl e the earth-faul t currents associ ated
wi th the type of mai ns suppl y and i ncomi ng
mai ns cabl es, accordi ng to the
requi rements of the rel evant safety
standard (typi cal l y ei ther EN/ EC 61 01 0-1
or EN/ EC 60204-1 , maki ng sure to use the
current edi ti on), taki ng the materi al (e. g.
mi l d steel ) and maxi mum cabi net
temperature i nto account. Safety i s more
i mportant than EMC, so must never be
compromi sed for EMC reasons.
Gi ven that the above CSA requi rement i s
met, Fi gure 41 shows that doors,
removabl e panel s (and anythi ng el se
associ ated wi th the cabi net structure that
requi res 'safety earthi ng' ) shoul d make
thei r protecti ve bondi ng to thei r nearest
cabi net wal l s usi ng thei r own studs or
termi nal s wi th the shortest and wi dest
practi cabl e conductors, e. g. metal straps or
brai ds. n general , the shorter the l ength of
the protecti ve bondi ng wi re, strap or brai d,
the hi gher the frequency at whi ch a metal
cabi net provi des some shi el di ng benefi ts.
Al so i n general , better EMC wi l l be
achi eved by havi ng more than one short
protecti ve bondi ng wi re, strap or brai d to
the part concerned spreadi ng them out
as uni forml y as practi cal al ong the l ength,
hei ght or wi dth concerned, preferabl y
spaced 1 50mm or l ess apart, as shown i n
Fi gures 4 and 5.
Fi gure 42 shows the detai l s of connecti ng
a protecti ve bondi ng conductor to the RF
Reference (the backpl ate i n thi s exampl e)
and shoul d be compared wi th Fi gures 6
and 7.
At frequenci es for whi ch the l ongest
cabi net di mensi on exceeds one-twenti eth
of the wavel ength (dependi ng on the SE
requi red for the cabi net) such straps or
brai ds provi de few EMC benefi ts, no
matter how short they are, and a shi el ded
cabi net usi ng conducti ve gaskets around
doors and removabl e panel s may be
requi red i nstead (see secti on 5).
To hel p create a l arger l ocal RF Reference
and get the benefi t of whatever shi el di ng i s
avai l abl e from a basi c metal cabi net, the
Fig 42
backpl ate shoul d be RF-bonded metal -to-
metal to the metal cabi net at every one of
i ts fi xi ng poi nts. Some cabi nets are made
usi ng pl asti c backpl ate mounti ng brackets,
and wherever the regul ar fi xi ngs don' t
provi de the requi red RF-bondi ng methods
(see secti on 2) short wi de straps or brai ds,
or metal brackets, shoul d be fi tted between
the backpl ate and the cabi net to provi de
RF bonds. Si mi l ar RF bonds shoul d
connect the backpl ate to the cabi net wal l
wherever cabl es enter or exi t the
backpl ate.
4. 2 RF-bonding insulated
electrical/electronic items to the
RFReference
Some i nsul ated i tems of equi pment, such
as ' Doubl e- nsul ated' types (accordi ng to
the safety standards), requi re no safety
earth connecti ons for thei r mai ns suppl y
but even so they mi ght have a ' functi onal
earth' that needs to be connected to the
cabi net's RF Reference. nsul ated i tems
can onl y be connected to the RF
Reference usi ng wi res, straps or brai ds,
as shown by Fi gure 42, and thi s method
usi ng the shortest practi cal wi res, straps or
brai ds shoul d be used to connect any
protecti ve ('earth' ) conductors or any
functi onal earths to the l ocal RF Reference.
Fi gure 43 i l l ustrates thi s practi ce.
t shoul d be understood that j ust a few
centi metres of conductor (whether round
wi re, wi de metal strap or brai d) can be
compl etel y i neffecti ve (or even counter-
producti ve) at frequenci es above a few
MHz, as shown by some of the graphs i n
[20], so al though thi s method attempts to
get the best RF performance from an
i nsul ated i tem, i t cannot be rel i ed upon to
achi eve good EMC where the i tem i tsel f
has a poor EMC performance (see [1 4] ).
Shi el ded cabl es enteri ng/exi ti ng such i tems
shoul d have thei r shi el ds bonded to the
l ocal RF Reference usi ng one of the
methods descri bed i n secti on 3. 7 unl ess
speci fi cal l y prohi bi ted i n the suppl i er's
i nstructi ons but onl y use pi gtai l s when
there i s no practi cal al ternati ve, and
understand that the shi el d performance
above 1 MHz wi l l then be very poor.
Fig 43
47 48
Where there are prohi bi ti ons about cabl e
shi el d bondi ng, al ways check whether such
suppl i ers real l y understand i n EMC terms
why they are maki ng them, i n case they
are j ust bl i ndl y fol l owi ng the tradi ti onal and
l ong-outdated practi ce of tryi ng to avoi d
'ground l oops', see secti on 3. 7. 1 (and 2. 6. 8
i n the 2006 versi on of [28] ).
4. 3 RF-bonding metal-bodied
electrical/electronic items to the
RFReference
Thi s secti on assumes the metal -bodi ed
i tems have hi ghl y conducti ve surface
pl ati ngs (e. g. bri ght or dul l ti n, al ochromed
al umi ni um, etc. ). Where they are pai nted or
anodi sed or otherwi se i nsul ated, i t i s
assumed that the i nsul ati ng coati ngs are
removed, and a hi ghl y-conducti ve
corrosi on-resi stant pai nt appl i ed (e. g. pai nt
hi ghl y l oaded wi th si l ver, zi nc or al umi ni um
speci fi cal l y i ntended for creati ng conducti ve
surfaces). f none of the above appl i es or
i f bondi ng to an external metal chassi s i s
speci fi cal l y prohi bi ted i n the suppl i er's
i nstructi ons treat the i tem as an i nsul ated
i tem, see secti on 4. 2 and expect si mi l ar
EMC.
Where suppl i ers prohi bi t bondi ng the body
of a uni t, al ways check whether they
understand why i n EMC terms, i n case
they are j ust bl i ndl y fol l owi ng the tradi ti onal
and outdated practi ce of tryi ng to avoi d
'ground l oops' (see secti on 3. 7. 1 , and 2. 6. 8
i n the 2006 versi on of [28] ).
tems that empl oy conducti vel y pl ated metal
bodi es often have better EMC performance
than ones wi th pai nted, anodi sed or
i nsul ati ng bodi es. They al so provi de more
opportuni ti es for i mprovi ng thei r EMC by
bondi ng thei r metal bodi es to the RF
Reference. So i f there i s a choi ce of
el ectroni c uni ts for a parti cul ar functi on, and
there appears to be nothi ng to choose
between the EMC performances offered by
thei r manufacturers, i t shoul d be best to
choose the one wi th the conducti vel y pl ated
metal body.
Di rect metal surface-to-metal surface
el ectri cal bonds gi ve the best performance
at radi o frequenci es above 1 MHz or so, and
shoul d be used to bond al l the metal fi xi ngs
on any el ectroni c uni ts to thei r l ocal RF
Reference as shown by Fi gures 44 and 45
(al so see Fi gure 7 for compari son).

Where the fi xi ngs for a metal -bodi ed uni t are
further apart than 1 00mm or so, addi ng
more RF bonds between i ts metal case and
the RF Reference wi l l general l y i mprove
EMC. deal l y, l ow-profi l e metal brackets
(wi th hi ghl y conducti ve surface pl ati ng)
woul d be screwed between the i tem' s metal
body and the RF Reference but thi s i s not
usual l y acceptabl e because i t coul d damage
the i tem or i nval i date i ts warranty.
Acceptabl e al ternati ves i ncl ude maki ng
addi ti onal RF bonds wi th pi eces of
conducti ve gasket (see Fi gure 8) or metal
spri ng fi ngers (see Fi gure 9).
Fi gure 46 shows an exampl e of a 55kW
vari abl e-speed motor dri ve i nstal l ati on i n a
cabi net. The mai ns fi l ter, DC power suppl y
and vari abl e speed dri ve are each i n ti n-
pl ated boxes and each i s RF-bonded to the
ti n-pl ated backpl ate usi ng the method shown
i n Fi gures 44 and 45. Compare thi s
assembl y wi th Fi gure 23, and noti ce al so
that the motor cabl e' s shi el d i s RF-bonded
wi th a saddl ecl amp type of fi xi ng to a wi de
bracket extendi ng from the dri ve' s chassi s
(i ts RF Reference).
Modul ar uni ts such as Programmabl e Logi c
Control l ers (PLCs) consi st of a basi c chassi s
(or some other name) i nto whi ch the
modul es are pl ugged. Thi s chassi s shoul d
be treated as descri bed i n secti ons 4. 2 or
4. 3, dependi ng on whether i ts body i s
i nsul ated or not.
Fig 44
Fig 45
Fig 46
49 50
4. 4 RF-bonding PCBs to the RF
Reference
deal l y, PCBs woul d be contai ned wi thi n
conducti vel y-pl ated boxes and be treated
as descri bed i n secti on 4. 3. But someti mes
cabi nets use unencl osed PCBs, especi al l y
i f they have been custom-desi gned for the
cabi net manufacturer. Fi gure 47 shows the
general pri nci pl es of bondi ng a PCB's own
RF Reference (usual l y i ts 0V pl ane) to the
cabi net's RF Reference. The bondi ng
poi nts shoul d be spread over the whol e
PCB area, and wi thi n i t too, i deal l y spaced
l ess than /1 0 apart at the hi ghest
frequency to be control l ed.
Of course, thi s PCB bondi ng shoul d not be
done i f speci fi cal l y forbi dden by the PCB
suppl i er but you shoul d al ways check
whether they real l y understand i n EMC
terms why they are maki ng thi s prohi bi ti on,
because they mi ght j ust be bl i ndl y
fol l owi ng the tradi ti onal and l ong-outdated
practi ce of tryi ng to avoi d 'ground l oops'
(see secti on 3. 7. 1 , and secti on 2. 6. 8 i n the
2006 versi on of [28] ).
The PCB-to-Reference bondi ng poi nts do
not have to be fi xi ng screws, they coul d
use the modi fi ed cl i p-on mounti ng posts
shown i n Fi gure 48, or spri ng fi ngers such
as those i n Fi gure 9. Some manufacturers
(e. g. Ki tagawa) make spri ng fi ngers
speci fi cal l y i ntended for surface mounti ng
and sol deri ng on PCBs, for maki ng
addi ti onal RF bonds to thei r l ocal RF
Reference.
4. 5 Capacitive and hybrid RF-
bonding
Someti mes there are very good reasons
why i t i s undesi rabl e to make di rect metal -
to-metal connecti ons between an
el ectri cal /el ectroni c i tem (i ncl udi ng PCBs)
and i ts l ocal RF Reference. n such cases
RF-bondi ng can sti l l be achi eved usi ng
capaci tors i n seri es wi th each bond.
Where there i s a si ngl e di rect bond, and
the other bonds are capaci ti ve, thi s i s
known as hybri d RF-bondi ng.
Capaci ti ve and hybri d bondi ng was
descri bed i n secti on 3. 7. 2, for bondi ng
Fig 47 Fig 48
cabl e shi el ds to the RF Reference, and
exactl y the same i ssues and capaci tor
sel ecti on i ssues appl y when usi ng these
techni ques for RF-bondi ng
el ectri cal /el ectroni c i tems i ncl udi ng PCBs.
When desi gni ng a PCB that requi res
capaci ti ve or hybri d bondi ng, for an
i ndustri al cabi net, the seri es capaci tors
shoul d be mounted on the board i n seri es
wi th the bondi ng poi nts wi th thei r traces
and pads desi gned to mi ni mi se thei r
i nductances, to hel p achi eve the best EMC
performance.
4. 6 Combining safety bonding
with RF-bonding
n many i ndustri al cabi nets i t i s often easy
to combi ne the safety and RF-bondi ng
structures together, as shown i n secti ons
4. 1 , 4. 2 and 4. 3. Thi s saves ti me, i mproves
EM performance, and al so removes
bundl es of green/yel l ow wi res from the
pl asti c trunki ng maki ng more space
and easi ng the wi ri ng of the cabi net.
51 52
However, where ' earth-faul ts' coul d resul t
i n very heavy currents to a protecti vel y
bonded part, the CSA of the cabi net
structure mi ght not be suffi ci ent to al l ow i ts
use i n the protecti ve bondi ng system.
Al so, some safety i nspectors mi ght be
uncomfortabl e i f they cannot see
green/yel l ow wi res, straps or brai ds to a
'mai n earthi ng bar' from most/al l of the
protecti vel y bonded structural parts and
i tems of equi pment.
Where the RF Reference cannot be used
as the protecti ve bondi ng system, both the
RF Reference system and the ' tradi ti onal '
protecti ve conductor system shoul d exi st
i n paral l el , creati ng a l ot of 'ground l oops'.
n such cases we do not care how l ong the
protecti ve bondi ng conductors are, as l ong
as RF-bondi ng system uses the shortest
wi res, straps and brai ds (preferabl y di rect
metal -to-metal bonds where practi cal ). Of
course, thi s creates a great many ' ground
l oops', but as was shown i n secti on 2. 6. 8
of the 2006 versi on of [28], ground l oops
are general l y a good thi ng for si gnal s,
EMC and safety provi di ng the
el ectroni cs i s competentl y desi gned and
there are a l arge number of smal l l oops
and not j ust one or two l arge ones.
4. 7 Choosing filters and bonding
them to the RFReference
4. 7. 1 Choosi ng fi I ters
As Fi gure 21 showed, there are a great
many types of mai ns fi l ter, and there are
al so a great many types of si gnal fi l ter
so i t i s i mportant to choose the ri ght ones
for your appl i cati ons. When choosi ng a
mai ns fi l ter, i t i s safest to assume that i ts
attenuati on at any frequency i s no better
than the worst-case deri ved from al l of i ts
matched 509/509, and i ts mi smatched
1 009/0. 1 9, and 0. 1 9/1 009 performance
data for both common-mode and
di fferenti al -mode (known i nstead as
'asymmetri cal ' and 'symmetri cal ' by fi l ter
manufacturers). Merel y usi ng the 509/509
attenuati on curves can resul t i n amplifying
an unwanted noi se frequency i nstead of
attenuati ng i t.
Good fi l ter manufacturers wi l l provi de al l
the above data as graphs coveri ng the
whol e frequency range of i nterest,
i ncl udi ng both the conducted range (down
to 1 50kHz or l ess) and the radi ated
frequency range (e. g. up to 1 GHz or
more). For more on these and other fi l ter
sel ecti on i ssues refer to [29] (especi al l y i ts
secti ons 3. 2. 8, 3. 2. 9 and 3. 3. 3) and al so to
[32].
t i s al so worth noti ng that the best fi l ters
for EMC have seaml ess metal bodi es fi tted
wi th fl anges or other means of di rectl y
bondi ng them metal -to-metal to a l ocal RF
Reference at l east at two poi nts.
4. 7. 2 Bondi ng fi I ters to the RF
Reference
Some fi l ters rel y sol el y on ferri tes and
have no need for any connecti on to the RF
Reference. Thi s type i ncl udes the cabl e
chokes shown i n Fi gure 20, and they are
especi al l y useful where a good qual i ty RF
Reference i s not avai l abl e at the frequency
to be control l ed.
However, most types of fi l ters and al l
medi um or hi gh-performance fi l ters
contai n capaci tors, and i t i s vi tal for thei r
EMC performance that thei r hi ghl y
conducti ve metal bodi es are bonded
metal -to-metal to a l ocal RF Reference
that has l ower i mpedance than thei r
capaci tors at the frequenci es of concern.
The bonds must be made at least at al l of
thei r fi xi ng poi nts, as shown i n Fi gures 44
and 45 and descri bed i n secti on 4. 3.
Many types of connectors are avai l abl e
wi th bui l t-i n fi l ters, some of whi ch are
si mpl e ferri tes needi ng no Reference
connecti on, some are si mpl e capaci tors,
and some (more costl y) types use Tee or
Pi fi l ter pi ns.
To hel p protect the el ectroni cs i n a product
from external EM di sturbances, the fi l ters
fi tted to external cabl es shoul d be fi tted at
the poi nt where the cabl e fi rst crosses the
boundary of the l ocal RF Reference. But to
hel p reduce i nterference inside a cabi net
caused by the emi ssi ons from a noi sy
el ectri cal /el ectroni c uni t, fi l ters shoul d be
fi tted to that uni t' s l ocal RF Reference as
cl ose as possi bl e to i t.
Where fi l ters must be used for both the
above purposes (typi cal of the mai ns and
motor dri ve cabl es associ ated wi th a
vari abl e-speed AC motor dri ve), thei r
l ocati on i n a cabi net can be a di ffi cul t
compromi se so i t i s general l y best to
l ocate the noi sy uni t cl ose to the edge of
the RF Reference, and i n the appropri ate
ori entati on, so that the fi l ter can be
mounted very cl ose to the noi sy uni t and
al so cl ose to the edge of the Reference
where the fi l tered cabl e enters or exi ts.
Fi l ters fi tted to the i ncomi ng mai ns suppl y
shoul d be pl aced so that the l ength of
external mai ns cabl e that enters a cabi net
i s mi ni mi sed, preferabl y l ess than 1 50mm
for i ndustri al cabi nets and kept cl ose to
the RF Reference at al l ti mes. Smal l er
products shoul d use a bul khead mounted
mai ns fi l ter i f at al l possi bl e, such as the
popul ar EC320 pl ug-i nl et styl e, so that no
external mai ns wi res penetrate the
cabi net at al l . Mai ns fi l ters fi tted pri or to
on/off swi tches (or door i sol ators i n
i ndustri al cabi nets) wi l l stay l i ve even
when the power i s swi tched off at the
product, so touch protecti on and
appropri ate safety warni ngs for thei r
termi nal s must be provi ded (be sure to
meet al l the requi rements i n the rel evant
safety standards).
Fi l ter i nput and output wi res must never
come anywhere near each other, as they
are al ways at l east one cabl e Cl ass apart
(see secti on 3. 3). Cascaded mai ns fi l ters
can i nteract and make the overal l EMC
performance worse than that of each fi l ter
on i ts own, as di scussed i n the 2006
versi on of [29], so i f i t i s necessary to
cascade fi l ters on a si ngl e cabl e the
addi ti onal fi l ter mi ght have to have more
stages, and be l arger wi th a hi gher
speci fi cati on, than mi ght seem necessary.
4. 8 A single connector panel is
best
t i s best to provi de a si ngl e connector
panel for each cabi net, so that al l external
cabl es enter or exi t the RF Reference i n
one pl ace at one of i ts si des or edges.
Thi s i s so that (i n conj uncti on wi th the
other techni ques descri bed here) the CM
RF currents (someti mes cal l ed surface
currents) that can fl ow i n l ong external
cabl es, especi al l y i n some el ectri cal l y
noi sy i ndustri al envi ronments or duri ng
thunderstorms, wi l l fl ow from cabl e to
cabl e vi a the connector panel or edge of
the RF Reference through the shi el d
termi nati ons and fi l ters mounted i n that
area.
The si ngl e connector panel techni que
gi ves best resul ts when al l of the external
cabl es are ei ther fi l tered or shi el ded at the
poi nt where they pass through the
connector panel , usi ng the techni ques
descri bed i n secti on 5. 2 as i f the connector
panel was part of a shi el ded cabi net. Thi s
i s because the external cabl es' ci rcul ati ng
CM currents wi l l then prefer not to fl ow
through the rest of the cabi net or RF
Reference, or through the i nternal
el ectroni cs and thei r cabl es. Thi s can
si gni fi cantl y i mprove i mmuni ty to external
EM threats, and i t can al so hel p contai n
CM currents generated inside the cabi net,
si gni fi cantl y i mprovi ng emi ssi ons.
4. 9 RF-bonding VGA display
panels to the RFReference
VGA LCD panel di spl ays are often used i n
modern i ndustri al cabi nets, but can be a
si gni fi cant source of emi ssi ons. f they
have touchscreens, they can be a probl em
for i mmuni ty. The usual techni que i s to
purchase types that have a conti nuous
metal back cover that i s el ectri cal l y
bonded al l around i ts peri phery to thei r
metal 'pi cture frame' surround. Then the
VGA panel 's metal surround i s RF-bonded
metal -to-metal (or wi th a conducti ve
gasket) to the door or wal l of the metal
cabi net, whi ch shoul d be a part of the RF
Reference of the cabi net. Thi s method can
53 54
be seen as a vari ant of the Cl ean Box /
Di rty Box method descri bed i n secti on
5. 3. 2.
f the VGA panel s that have compl ete
metal backs are not sui tabl e, one shoul d
be made from thi n metal (or copper tape)
and RF-bonded al l around i ts peri phery to
the panel 's metal 'pi cture frame' surround,
usi ng conducti ve adhesi ve or conducti ve
gaskets. Then the new back or the LCD
panel ' s metal surround i s bonded al l
around i ts peri phery as descri bed above.
f the above i s not suffi ci ent, a shi el ded
wi ndow wi l l be requi red see secti on
5. 3. 2.
5 Usi ng shi eI ded cabi nets
5. 1 Introduction
Secti ons 2, 3 and 4 above assumed that a
metal chassi s, backpl ate, racki ng system,
or cabi net was avai l abl e and was used as
a l ocal RF Reference, but di d not assume
that the cabi net was desi gned speci fi cal l y
to provi de any speci al shi el di ng
performance.
However, i n some appl i cati ons shi el ded
cabi nets are needed because the EM
envi ronment at the i ntended operati onal
l ocati on coul d be too severe for the
el ectroni c uni ts used i nsi de the cabi net, or
because the external EM envi ronment
needs to be protected from the EM
emi ssi ons from the el ectri cal or el ectroni c
uni ts i n the cabi net.
Cabi net shi el di ng requi res metal cabi nets,
or pl asti c cabi nets wi th hi ghl y conducti ve
metal -coated surfaces (pl asti c wi th
conducti ve fi l l ers i s very di ffi cul t to use
effecti vel y). Very careful attenti on to detai l
i n desi gn and assembl y i s needed i f the
shi el di ng provi ded by the cabi net i s not to
be rui ned. There are two i ssues:
Shi el di ng and/or fi l teri ng of al l
conductors enteri ng or exi ti ng the
cabi net, at the poi nt of penetrati on of
the cabi net wal l , see secti on 5. 2
Control of al l apertures, i ncl udi ng at
doors, removabl e panel s, di spl ays and
venti l ati on, see secti on 5. 3

The detai l s associ ated wi th the desi gn and

assembl y of shi el ded encl osures of al l
si zes are covered i n [30] .
5. 2 Shielding and/or filtering of
all conductors entering or
exiting the cabinet
Shi el ded cabi nets compl ete wi th shi el ded
wi ndows and venti l ati on wi th excel l ent
EMC performance can be purchased from
a number of suppl i ers, and can easily be
completely ruined by cutti ng apertures for
door-mounted uni ts, dri l l i ng hol es, poor
fi l ter mounti ng, poor cabl e shi el di ng or
shi el d bondi ng, or l eavi ng doors open.
Thi s secti on covers cabl e penetrati ons,
whi l st secti on 5. 3 covers apertures and
gaps.
Al l conductors enteri ng or exi ti ng a
cabi net must be ei ther shi el ded and/or
fi l tered wi th the shi el d and/or fi l ter RF-
bonded to the cabi net wal l (or fl oor, rear,
etc. ) at the exact poi nt of penetrati on of
the cabi net wal l . There are no excepti ons
to thi s rul e for any conductors of any type,
whether they are fi bre-opti c draw wi res;
metal pi pes or fl exi bl e pi pes wi th metal
strengtheni ng for hydraul i cs or
pneumati cs; cabl e armour, etc. The
general pri nci pl es of control l i ng cabl e
penetrati ons are i l l ustrated i n Fi gure 49.
t i s common to fi nd the SE of a cabi net
compl etel y rui ned by somethi ng as tri vi al
as a mouse cabl e penetrati ng one of i ts
si des. The mouse si gnal s themsel ves are
not general l y a cause of emi ssi ons the
probl em i s that the mouse cabl e
conductors are acci dental antennas j ust
l i ke any other conductor (see secti on 1 . 4
and Fi gure 3). They pi ck-up EM noi ses on
ei ther si de of the cabi net wal l and re-
radi ate them on the other si des thereby
defeati ng the expensi ve shi el di ng of the
cabi net.
5. 2. 1 Shi eI ded cabI es
enteri ng/exi ti ng a shi eI ded cabi net
Fi gure 50 shows the good EMC
engi neeri ng practi ces requi red to be used
when shi el ded cabl es penetrate a shi el ded
cabi net wal l .
Fig 49
55 56
Fig 50
The metal bodi es of the chassi s-mounted
connectors or gl ands must make mul ti pl e
metal -to-metal contacts wi th the wal l of the
shi el ded cabi net, at the poi nt where they
pass through i t to connect to the cabl e-
mounted connectors. The RF-bondi ng
techni ques for the cabl e shi el ds i n the
cabl e-mounted connectors were descri bed
i n 3. 7. 4 and Fi gures 27-30. t i s very
i mportant to ensure that the cabi net has a
hi ghl y conducti ve pl ati ng that i s sui tabl e for
the physi cal envi ronment and l i fecycl e of
the cabi net (see secti on 6) at l east i n the
areas where the connectors or gl ands are
to be i nstal l ed.
Ci rcul ar connectors and gl ands general l y
make a good 360 el ectri cal bond al l
around thei r cabi net aperture. However,
rectangul ar connectors general l y onl y
achi eve rel i abl e RF bonds at thei r
mounti ng poi nts (two, for a D-Type) and
where hi gh val ues of SE are requi red, or
where frequenci es above 1 00MHz are to
be control l ed, they shoul d be fi tted wi th a
conducti ve gasket duri ng assembl y
to achi eve a good RF-bond al l around thei r
peri meters. A number of manufacturers
make EMC gaskets for di fferent types of
chassi s-mounted connector, such as those
shown i n Fi gure 51 .
Saddl e-cl amps, P-cl i ps, pi gtai l s and any
other shi el d bondi ng method that cannot
achi eve a 360 el ectri cal bond around the
aperture requi red for the connector or gl and
i n the cabi net wal l , must not be used to
bond cabl e shi el ds as they enter/exi t a
shi el ded cabi net. The onl y excepti ons to
thi s mi ght perhaps be i n very speci al
ci rcumstances where the shi el ded cabi net
i s not requi red to shi el d agai nst frequenci es
above, say, 1 00kHz (and even then, pi gtai l s
are not recommended).
5. 2. 2 When good shi eI di ng practi ces
contradi ct suppI i er's i nstructi ons
t someti mes happens that two i tems of
equi pment are i nstal l ed i n separate
shi el ded cabi nets, and need to be
Fig 51
i nterconnected by a shi el ded cabl e but
one of the equi pment i s suppl i ed wi th
EMC i nstructi ons that state that i ts cabl e
shi el d must onl y be connected at one end
(usual l y at that i tem of equi pment, and
usual l y to a screw-termi nal or connector
pi n). Leavi ng asi de the i ssues of whether
the suppl i er had used good EMC desi gn,
or was si mpl y regurgi tati ng ' tradi ti onal '
i nstructi ons that are now decades
obsol ete unl ess the suppl i er can be
persuaded to al ter hi s EMC i nstructi ons
they shoul d be fol l owed or el se they wi l l
di scl ai m al l responsi bi l i ty for i nterference.

The probl em i s that unl ess the shi el d i s
RF-bonded to the wal l s of both shi el ded
cabi nets, fol l owi ng the equi pment
suppl i er' s i nstructi ons to bond the shi el d at
onl y one end wi l l fatal l y compromi se thei r
shi el di ng performance. Fi gure 52
i l l ustrates one sol uti on use a doubl e
i nsul ated shi el d cabl e and RF-bond the
outermost i nsul ated shi el d to both the
shi el ded cabi nets i n the approved manner
57 58
(see secti on 5. 2. 1 ). The i nsul ated i nner
shi el d can then be termi nated i n
accordance wi th the suppl i er's EMC
i nstructi ons.
Where both equi pment suppl i ers i nsi st that
the cabl e shi el d must onl y be bonded at
one end, and they don't agree on whi ch
end, the method of Fi gure 52 wi l l preserve
the SE of the cabi nets, but cannot resol ve
the probl em of whi ch end to bond the i nner
shi el d.
5. 2. 3 Unshi eI ded cabI es
enteri ng/exi ti ng a shi eI ded cabi net
Every unshi el ded cabl e that enters or exi ts
a shi el ded cabi net must be fi tted wi th a fi l ter
that provi des a si mi l ar l evel of RF
attenuati on versus frequency as the SE
requi red for the cabi net. Thi s fi l ter must be
mounted at the poi nt where the cabl e
penetrates the metal (or metal l i sed) wal l of
the cabi net, and must make mul ti pl e metal -
to-metal el ectri cal bonds at that poi nt.
Fig 52
'Through-bul khead' fi l ters and fi l tered
connectors cause the l east degradati on of
a cabi net's SE, as l ong as thei r metal
bodi es make mul ti pl e metal -to-metal
bonds to the cabi net wal l al l around the
peri meter of thei r cut-outs, as i l l ustrated i n
Fi gure 53. Many cabi nets have had thei r
SE rui ned by a l ack of provi si on of metal -
to-metal bondi ng of EC 320 appl i ance-
i nl et fi l ters.
Where modest l evel s of SE are requi red
from the cabi net, i t may be enough to rel y
on the bonds provi ded by the fi xi ngs of the
fi l ter, but for good SE especi al l y at
frequenci es above 1 00MHz a
conducti ve gasket may be requi red to
bond the fi l ter's metal body to the cabi net' s
metal surface al l around i ts peri phery.
Note that Fi gure 53 does not show the
protecti ve cover that woul d be requi red for
the safety of the hi gh-performance
feedthrough fi l ter.
An al ternati ve to i s to use a l ower cost
chassi s-mounted fi l ter. These cannot be
Fig 53
i nstal l ed so that they penetrate the wal l of
a shi el ded cabi net, so when used on
cabl es that enter or exi t a cabi net they
degrade i ts SE. However, they can be
used wi th what i s usual l y cal l ed the Cl ean
Box / Di rty Box method, as shown i n
Fi gure 53. Attenti on to detai l i s needed to
achi eve hi gh val ues of SE wi th thi s
techni que, especi al l y mi ni mi si ng any gaps
i n the RF-bondi ng around the edges of
the Di rty Box, and reduci ng the coupl i ng
of hi gh frequenci es between the i nput and
output cabl es i nsi de the Di rty Box by
keepi ng them short and far away from
each other. There wi l l sti l l be some
coupl i ng between the i nput and output
cabl es i nsi de the Di rty Box, especi al l y at
frequenci es above 1 00MHz, so a hi gh-
frequency through-bul khead fi l ter may sti l l
need to be fi tted to one of the cabl es.
Often, thi s coupl i ng can be reduced
suffi ci entl y by addi ng one or more soft
ferri te cabl e suppressers (CM chokes, see
Fi gure 20) to one or both cabl es cl ose to
the Di rty Box.
'Room fi l ters' are chassi s-mounti ng fi l ters
speci fi cal l y desi gned for penetrati ng the
wal l s of shi el ded cabi nets wi thout
compromi si ng thei r SE. They i ncorporate
compartmented shi el ds for thei r i nput and
output termi nal s (effecti vel y two separate
Di rty Boxes), and thei r fi l tered outputs
enter the shi el ded room through
gal vani sed condui t wi th 360 bondi ng to
the wal l of the room, as shown i n Fi gure
54.
Room fi l ters are avai l abl e from a number
of manufacturers, sui tabl e for every type of
si gnal or el ectri cal power. They are
general l y desi gned to achi eve attenuati ons
of at l east 80dB from 1 00kHz to at l east
1 GHz, and types are avai l abl e that go
down to kHz and/or up to 40GHz and meet
mi l i tary speci fi cati ons. Room fi l ters can
al so be fi tted to i ndustri al cabi nets, and
are general l y requi red when a shi el ded
cabi net needs to have the hi ghest EMC
performance.
59 60
5. 2. 4 A segregated cabi net
Fi gure 55 shows a shi el ded cabi net that
has been segregated i nto ' cl ean' and
'di rty' vol umes, usi ng the methods
descri bed above for termi nati ng cabl e
shi el ds and screw-termi nal fi l ters. nstead
of di vi di ng a cabi net, some desi gners
bri ng thei r cabl es i nto a smal l Di rty
cabi net that i s bol ted (preferabl y seam-
wel ded) to the si de of the Cl ean cabi net.
5. 2. 5 A si ngI e connector paneI i s
sti I I the best
The benefi ts descri bed for a si ngl e
connector panel i n secti on 4. 8 al so appl y
i n the case of a shi el ded cabi net, because
the i nternal and external ci rcul ati ng CM
currents ('surface currents' ) do not have to
cross any j oi nts or gaps i n metal surfaces,
and thi s hel ps keep the i nternal currents
i nsi de, and the external currents outsi de
j ust what we want for good emi ssi ons
and i mmuni ty respecti vel y.
Fig 54
Fig 55
5. 3 Controlling apertures and
gaps in shielded cabinets
5. 3. 1 Introducti on
Shi el ded cabi nets compl ete wi th shi el ded
wi ndows and venti l ati on wi th excel l ent
EMC performance can be purchased from
a number of suppl i ers, and can easily be
completely ruined by cutti ng apertures for
door-mounted uni ts, dri l l i ng hol es, poor
fi l ter mounti ng, poor cabl e shi el di ng or
shi el d bondi ng, or l eavi ng doors open.
Secti on 5. 2 covered the shi el di ng and/or
fi l teri ng of all cabl e penetrati ons, whi l st thi s
secti on covers apertures and gaps.
Apertures and gaps i n a shi el ded cabi net
general l y act as 'acci dental sl ot antennas'
as shown by Fi gure 56, much as
conductors act as acci dental antennas as
shown by Fi gure 3. t does not matter how
narrow a gap i s (even as thi n as a l ayer of
pai nt or anodi si ng), or even i f i t i s shaped
l i ke a l abyri nth and there i s no l i ne of si ght
Fig 56
61 62
through i t i t sti l l l eaks RF energy and
degrades the cabi net's SE. Havi ng
acci dental sl ot antennas i n the wal l of a
shi el ded cabi net compromi ses i ts SE.
[30] descri bes good shi el di ng practi ces for
cabi nets, and goes i nto detai l on apertures
and other i ssues that wi l l not be repeated
here.

5. 3. 2 Di spI ays and controI s
Fi gure 57 shows how to use the Cl ean Box
/ Di rty Box method where an i tem (such as
a di spl ay, meter or control ) has to
penetrate the wal l of a shi el ded cabi net. t
i s i mportant to note that the i tem i n the
Di rty Box does not benefi t from the
shi el di ng of the cabi net, so must have
emi ssi ons and i mmuni ty performance that
i s adequate gi ven the external EM
envi ronment.
Much better EMC i s achi eved by pl aci ng
di spl ays behi nd shi el ded wi ndows,
Fig 57
especi al l y wi th VGA-type LCD panel s, and
thi s can be i mportant where a good SE i s
needed or hi gher frequenci es are to be
control l ed.
Shi el ded wi ndows use very fi ne bl ackened
metal meshes, or conducti vel y-pl ated
l ayers (often i ndi um ti n oxi de, known as
TO), sandwi ched between two cl ear
pl asti c panel s, and the metal mesh or
pl ated l ayer must be metal -to-metal
bonded to the di spl ay's cut-out i n the
shi el ded wal l al l around the peri meter of
the di spl ay. Fi gure 58 shows a shi el ded
wi ndow that has j ust been manufactured,
before the excess mesh has been
removed. They are al l desi gned so that the
mesh i s exposed around the four si des so
that i t can be 360 bonded to the shi el d
wal l .
Fi gure 59 shows some exampl e fi gures for
the SE achi eved by some types of
shi el ded wi ndow materi al s. Note that
these are for the materi al s themsel ves,
Fig 58
measured under i deal condi ti ons. n
practi ce the domi nant factors for a
cabi net's SE are usual l y the desi gn of
thei r assembl y, and the qual i ty of the
workmanshi p when they are assembl ed i n
the cabi net. Metal mesh wi ndows
general l y gi ve better shi el di ng
performance than conducti ve coati ngs, for
a gi ven l evel of opti cal transmi ssi on l oss
and degradati on of vi si bi l i ty, but can suffer
from Moi r fri ngi ng effects i f not sel ected
careful l y to sui t the pi xel si ze of the
di spl ay. Al l shi el ded wi ndows make the
di spl ay l ook di mmer, so backl i ghts may
need to be more powerful .
Touchscreens behi nd shi el ded wi ndows
are possi bl y a good EMC sol uti on to the
probl em of addi ng human-machi ne
i nterfaces to shi el ded cabi nets, al though
some touchscreen technol ogi es can be
di ffi cul t to use wi th a shi el ded wi ndow.
' Honeycomb metal ' can al so be used for
shi el di ng di spl ays, and has excel l ent SE
val ues but has an extremel y l i mi ted
vi ewi ng angl e. Thi s can be very useful i n
securi ty appl i cati ons, because i t makes i t
al most i mpossi bl e for anyone to see a
di spl ay unl ess they are ri ght i n front of i t,
but thi s i s not a desi rabl e feature i n
i ndustri al appl i cati ons.
5. 3. 3 Venti I ati on
Venti l ati on apertures can be shi el ded by
fi tti ng a wi re mesh (wel ded at each wi re
crossover i n the mesh) over the aperture,
wi th each wi re el ectri cal l y bonded metal -
to-metal to the wal l of the shi el ded cabi net
al l around the peri phery of the cut-out i n
the cabi net wal l . The smal l er the mesh
si ze, the better the SE. Perforati ng the
cabi net wal l wi th a number of smal l sl ots
or hol es can achi eve the same SE and
venti l ati on as fi tti ng a wi re gri l l e over a
l arge aperture, and avoi ds the need to
provi de RF bondi ng around the peri phery
of a wi re mesh.
63 64
A number of shi el di ng manufacturers sel l
pre-assembl ed shi el di ng gri l l es that may
si mpl y be fi tted wi th a conducti ve gasket al l
around thei r edges and then bol ted i nto
pl ace on the cabi net wal l (whi ch of course
must be hi ghl y conducti ve over the requi red
bondi ng area). Some of these are based on
wi re mesh, and some on more exoti c
technol ogi es such as wi re wool or
'honeycomb metal ' to gi ve better SEs, and
some exampl es are shown i n Fi gure 60.
A techni que known as 'wavegui de bel ow
cutoff' can provi de very hi gh val ues of SE
wi th very l i ttl e i mpedance to the ai rfl ow.
Thi s techni que i s descri bed i n detai l i n [30] ,
and honeycomb metal venti l ati on panel s
are an exampl e of i ts appl i cati on.
5. 3. 4 Doors and removabI e paneI s
To achi eve useful SEs, apertures i n an
cabi net must be few i n number and smal l i n
si ze, so doors and removabl e panel s must
have frequent el ectri cal bonds al l around
thei r edges. Bondi ng them wi th
Fig 59
Fig 60
wi res or straps i s no good at al l above a
few MHz. Fi gure 61 shows detai l s of the
bondi ng of the doors and removabl e
panel s usi ng a vol ume-conducti ve
el astomer gasket (such as neoprene
l oaded wi th si l ver-pl ated gl ass beads).
EMC gaskets are avai l abl e that provi de
envi ronmental as wel l as EMC seal i ng.
Gaskets and thei r contact areas must not
be pai nted, and careful choi ces of
materi al s and metal pl ati ng fi ni shes are
needed to ensure good EMC, and prevent
corrosi on, over the l i fecycl e of the cabi net
(see secti on 6).

Very many di fferent types of gaskets and
spri ng fi ngers are avai l abl e from a number
of manufacturers. Gasket choi ce requi res
bal anci ng many physi cal consi derati ons,
such as compl i ance, compressi on set, and
posi ti on i n the gal vani c seri es, wi th
el ectri cal ones such as contact resi stance.
An openi ng door may requi re a soft gasket
(for ease of manual cl osi ng) that al ways
spri ngs back to i ts ori gi nal shape, but
Fig 61
65 66
these are often di ffi cul t to combi ne wi th l ow
contact resi stance. Spri ng fi ngers ('fi nger
stock') are often used around doors and
removabl e panel s, as shown i n Fi gure 62,
but are qui te fragi l e and i n some
appl i cati ons coul d easi l y be damaged.
5. 4 The effective use of gaskets
Thi s gui de does not di scuss gaskets and
thei r use i n any detai l , except to say that
when assembl ed they shoul d be
compressed to an amount wi thi n thei r
manufacturers recommended range and
thi s can requi re consi derabl e pressure. As
menti oned i n 2. 5, even EMC gaskets that
can easi l y be squashed fl at between two
fi ngers can requi re very l arge compressi on
forces overal l when used i n l ong stri ps, so
the effecti ve use of gaskets requi res
careful mechani cal and fi xi ng desi gn to
prevent metal parts from bendi ng too much
i n del i veri ng those forces.
t i s not unusual to fi t stri ps of very soft
conducti ve gaskets to the door of an
Fig 62
i ndustri al cabi net, onl y to fi nd that i t
becomes al most i mpossi bl e to cl ose, and
once cl osed i t bends l i ke a banana
openi ng up l arge gaps that defeat the
purpose of the gasketti ng.
t has been menti oned many ti mes i n the
above text and fi gures that gaskets requi re
hi ghl y-conducti ve metal surfaces to make
connecti on on both of thei r si des. t i s
al ways recommended that metal parts are
checked for the conducti vi ty of any EMC-
rel ated surfaces when del i vered by thei r
suppl i er, before bei ng accepted i nto store.
Such tests shoul d use very bl unt, smooth
probes appl i ed wi th a very l i ght pressure, to
di scover whether the suppl i er has
' acci dental l y' appl i ed a pol ymer passi vati on
coati ng as they someti mes seem to. t i s
easy to desi gn and make a probe based on
a battery, buzzer and two smooth spri ng-
l oaded contacts, that can be used l i ke a
rubber stamp to de-ski l l metal surface
conducti vi ty checki ng at goods-i n.

EMC gaskets must conti nue to be effecti ve
over the l i fecyl ce of the cabi net despi te
exposure to the physi cal
envi ronment at the si te where i t i s
i nstal l ed. Thi s i ncl udes such i ssues as:
Mechani cal (e. g. shock and vi brati on)
Cl i mati c (e. g. ai r temperature,
pressure and humi di ty)
Chemi cal (e. g. exposure to
condensati on, l i qui ds, sprays, mi sts,
vapours and dusts of vari ous types)
Bi ol ogi cal (e. g. moul d growth)
Wear and tear from normal use,
cl eani ng, mai ntenance, etc.

Good EMC gasket manufacturers provi de

a weal th of data and appl i cati on
assi stance (for exampl e [27]), coveri ng
the correct choi ce of gasket materi al s and
styl es for parti cul ar appl i cati ons, taki ng
i nto account thei r physi cal envi ronments,
and the data requi red for mechani cal
desi gn to achi eve the correct compressi on
wi thout di storti on of the cabi net or any of
i ts parts. Gal vani c corrosi on of the
gaskets or the pl ati ng they bond to i s a
real possi bi l i ty, and shoul d be avoi ded by
fol l owi ng the gui dance i n secti on 6.
6 Preventi ng gaI vani c corrosi on
Al l of the techni ques descri bed above rel y
for thei r effecti veness on achi evi ng very
l ow-i mpedance metal -to-metal
connecti ons over the l i fecycl e of the
cabi net, despi te i ts physi cal envi ronment.
The contact resi stance at each RF bond
must not be permi tted to i ncrease too
much over the l i fecycl e, ei ther due to
oxi dati on of the metal s used, or due to
gal vani c corrosi on the subj ect of thi s
secti on.
Di fferent metal s have di fferent posi ti ons i n
the el ectro-chemi cal seri es, so when
connected by an el ectri cal l y-conducti ve
l i qui d (cal l ed an el ectrol yte, for exampl e
ordi nary water) they form an 'acci dental
battery' and a sel f-generated current fl ows
i n them. The most anodi c of the metal s
gets eaten away by thi s current,
eventual l y di sappeari ng (or turni ng i nto
non-conducti ve or semi -conducti ve
corrosi on products) al together. f the
choi ce of metal s i s poor for the
envi ronment, gal vani c corrosi on can
compl etel y destroy an el ectri cal
connecti on very qui ckl y i ndeed, maybe i n
j ust a few weeks.
More anodi c (most easi l y corroded)
Group 1 Magnesi um
Group 2 Al umi ni um and i ts al l oys,
zi nc, cadmi um
Group 3 Carbon steel , i ron, l ead, ti n,
ti n-l ead sol der
Group 4 Ni ckel , chromi um, stai nl ess
steel
Group 5 Copper, si l ver, gol d,
pl ati num, ti tani um
67 68
Fi gure 63 shows an exampl e of a
si mul ated l i fecycl e test usi ng standard
metal bl anks to test the gal vani c
compati bi l i ty of di fferent types of
conducti ve EMC gasket.
[20] has a very good chapter on
preventi ng gal vani c corrosi on, whi ch i s
summari sed very bri efl y bel ow.
Cl assi fi cati on of metal s by thei r posi ti on i n
the gal vani c seri es:
Fig 63
more cathodi c (l east easi l y corroded)
The i dea i s that the gal vani c vol tage
di fferences between the materi al s i n each
group are l ow enough to al l ow them to be
used i n contact wi th each other regardl ess
of the envi ronment. However, i n very
aggressi ve envi ronments (such as the
deck of an ocean-goi ng vessel ) i t i s
probabl y best to make sure that onl y
i denti cal metal s (or, i f they are al l oys,
i denti cal composi ti ons) are used i n contact.
Coati ng or pl ati ng mati ng parts wi th the
same metal (for exampl e, zi nc, ti n, or
ni ckel ) hel ps keep the di ssi mi l ar metal s
protected from the el ectrol yte, preventi ng
gal vani c corrosi on, but depends on the
qual i ty of the pl ati ng. A pi nhol e or scratch
i n the pl ati ng can al l ow the metal
underneath the pl ati ng to get eaten away.
Fi gure 64 i s a useful tabl e gi vi ng gui dance
on the combi nati ons of the metal s i n the
above fi ve groups, dependi ng on thei r
envi ronment, and was extracted from [20] .
The fl ow of DC or AC current through an
el ectri cal bond al so hastens gal vani c
corrosi on, maki ng i t a more i mportant
consi derati on for i ndustri al cabi nets
contai ni ng el ectri cal /el ectroni c ci rcui ts.
Vapour-phase corrosi on i nhi bi ti on i s a
recentl y devel oped technol ogy [33] that
cl ai ms to use smal l quanti ti es of a sol i d
materi al that subl i mes, rel easi ng a vapour
that coats nearby metal parts wi th an
i nsul ati ng fi l m j ust a few mol ecul es thi ck.
The fi l m i s supposed to be too weak to
prevent el ectri cal bonds from bei ng made
between di fferent parts, but suffi ci ent to
prevent oxi dati on or gal vani c corrosi on.
7 References and further readi ng
[1 ] European Uni on Di recti ve 89/336/EEC
(as amended) on El ectromagneti c
Compati bi l i ty. The Di recti ve' s offi ci al EU
homepage i ncl udes a downl oadabl e
versi on of the current EMC Di recti ve and
i ts successor; a tabl e of al l the EN
standards l i sted under the Di recti ve; a
gui dance document on how to appl y the
Di recti ve; l i sts of appoi nted EMC
Competent Bodi es; etc. , al l at:
http: //europa. eu. i nt/comm/enterpri se/
el ectr_equi pment/emc/i ndex. htm.
The new European Uni on Di recti ve
2004/1 08/EC on El ectromagneti c
Compati bi l i ty (2nd Edi ti on):
http: //europa. eu. i nt/eur-l ex/l ex/LexUri
Serv/si te/en/oj /2004/l _390/l _3902004
1 231 en00240037. pdf
See [2] for detai l s of the transi ti on from
89/336/EEC to 2004/1 08/EC.
[2] "2004/108/EC: Systems, Installations
and Good Engineering Practices, Kei th
Armstrong, The EMC Journal , September
2006, avai l abl e from www. compl i ance-
cl ub. com (search by 'Kei th Armstrong' )
[3] "EMC for Systems and Installations,
Ti m Wi l l i ams and Kei th Armstrong,
Newnes, 2000, SBN 0 7506 41 67 3, RS
Components Part No. 377-6463
[4] Seventeen EMC Gui des on EM
phenomena, l egal compl i ance and EMC
testi ng have been publ i shed by REO (UK)
Ltd. They are very readabl e and practi cal ,
and are avai l abl e vi a the Publ i cati ons and
Downl oads pages at
www. cherrycl ough. com
[5] A number of useful and practi cal
documents on compl yi ng wi th the EMC
Di recti ve are avai l abl e from the
' Publ i cati ons and Downl oads' pages at
www. cherrycl ough. com
[6] EC 61 508: "Functional Safety of
Electrical, Electronic and Programmable
Electronic Systems (seven parts)
[7] EC 61 51 1 : "Functional safety: Safety
instrumented systems for the process
industry sector
[8] EC 62061 : "Safety of Machinery
Functional safety of electrical, electronic
and programmable control systems for
machinery
[9] The 'Low Vol tage Di recti ve': 73/23/EEC
"Council Directive of 1 February 1973 on
the harmonization of the laws of Member
States relating to electrical equipment
designed for use within certain voltage
limits as amended by 93/68/EEC
[1 0] The 'Machi nery Safety Di recti ve':
"Directive 98/37/EC of the European
Parliament and of the Council of 22 June
1998 on the approximation of the laws of
the Member States relating to machinery
The new Machi nery Safety Di recti ve:
"Directive 2006/42/EC of the European
Parliament and of the Council of 17 May
2006 on machinery, and amending
Directive 95/16/EC (recast)
[1 1 ] "List of Resources on EMC and
Functional Safety, The ET,
http: //www. i ee. org/OnComms/PN/emc/
EMCandFuncti onal Safety. cfm

[1 2] "EMC Testing, a seri es i n si x parts by
Ti m Wi l l i ams and Kei th Armstrong,
publ i shed i n the EMC Compl i ance Journal
duri ng 2001 -2, and avai l abl e vi a the
'Publ i cati ons and Downl oads' pages at
www. cherrycl ough. com
[1 3] "On-Site EMC Test Methods, Kei th
Armstrong, EMC Test Labs Associ ati on
(www. emctl a. co. uk) Techni cal Gui dance
Note No. TGN 49, avai l abl e from the
'Publ i cati ons and Downl oads' pages at
www. cherrycl ough. com
69 70
Fig 64
[1 4] "CE + CE does not equal CE what
to do instead avai l abl e from the
'Publ i cati ons and Downl oads' pages at
www. cherrycl ough. com
[1 5] "Assessing an EMEnvironment, Kei th
Armstrong, EMC Test Labs Associ ati on
(www. emctl a. co. uk) Techni cal Gui dance
Note No. TGN 47, avai l abl e from the
'Publ i cati ons and Downl oads' pages at
www. cherrycl ough. com
[1 6] "Electromagnetic Compatibility in
Heavy Power Installations EE
Col l oqui um, Mi ddl esborough U. K. , 23
rd

February 1 999, EE Col l oqui um Di gest No.
99/0666 ( SSN 0963-3308) avai l abl e from
EE Sal es for around 20,
sal es@i ee. org. uk or from the EE Li brary:
www. i ee. org. uk/Li brary,
l i bdesk@i ee. org. uk
[1 7] "Achieving EMC Directive Compliance
with a Spreadsheet, Kei th Armstrong,
Conformi ty, February 2006, from the
archi ves at www. conformi ty. com
[1 8] EC 61 000-5-2: 1 997 "Electromagnetic
Compatibility (EMC) Part 5: Installation
and Mitigation Guidelines Section 2:
Earthing and cabling
[1 9] PD EC TR 61 000-5-6: 2002
"Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC)
Installation and mitigation guidelines
Mitigation of external EMinfluences"
[20] NAVA R AD 1 1 5 "Electromagnetic
Compatibility Design Guide for Avionics
and Related Ground Equipment, 3
rd

Edi ti on, June 1 988, Naval Ai r Systems
Command, Department of the Navy,
Washi ngton DC, USA
[21 ] Defence Standard 59-41 , Part 6, ssue
1 26th August 1 994: "Electromagnetic
Compatibility Code of Practice for Military
Vehicles Installation Guidelines, downl oad
from www. dstan. mod. uk
[22] Defence Standard 59-41 , Part 7 ssue
1 1 0
th
November 1 995: "Electromagnetic
Compatibility Code of Practice for HM
ships, Installation Guidelines, downl oad
from www. dstan. mod. uk
[23] "Electromagnetic Compatibility
Installation Guide, Eurotherm Control s,
http: //downl oad. eurotherm. co. uk/downl oad-
s/DL/EMC_025464_1 . pdf
[24] "EMC: Electromagnetic Compatibility,
Jacques Del abal l e, Schnei der El ectri c,
www. schnei der-el ectri c. com/cahi er_techni -
que/en/pdf/ect1 49. pdf
[25] "EMC-Compatible Enclosure
Assembly, Ri ttal , www. ri ttal . co. uk
[26] The author's contact detai l s are
provi ded at www. cherrycl ough. com
[27] Lai rd Technol ogi es Techni cal Notes,
vi si t: http: //www. l ai rdtech. com/pages/
catal ogs/emi . asp and scrol l down the page.
[28] "Design Techniques for EMC- Part 2:
Cables and Connectors, Kei th Armstrong,
The EMC Journal , Apri l 1 999, pages 7-1 6,
avai l abl e vi a the ' Publ i cati ons and
Downl oads' pages at
www. cherrycl ough. com. Thi s arti cl e was
updated and i mproved wi th consi derabl y
i ncreased detai l i n The EMC Journal , May
2006 pages 31 -41 and Jul y 2006 pages 25-
38, avai l abl e from www. compl i ance-
cl ub. com (search by Kei th Armstrong)
[29] "Design Techniques for EMC- Part 3:
Filters and surge protection devices, Kei th
Armstrong, The UK EMC Journal , June
1 999, pages 9-1 5, avai l abl e vi a the
' Publ i cati ons and Downl oads' pages at
www. cherrycl ough. com. Thi s arti cl e was
updated and i mproved wi th consi derabl y
i ncreased detai l i n The EMC Journal ,
September and November 2006, avai l abl e
from www. compl i ance-cl ub. com (search by
' Kei th Armstrong')
[30] "Design Techniques for EMC- Part 4:
Shielding, Kei th Armstrong, The UK EMC
Journal , August 1 999, pages 1 0-20,
avai l abl e vi a the ' Publ i cati ons and
Downl oads' pages at
www. cherrycl ough. com. An updated,
revi sed and augmented versi on wi l l be
publ i shed i n The EMC Journal duri ng
2007, and wi l l be avai l abl e from
www. compl i ance-cl ub. com (search by
Kei th Armstrong)
[31 ] "Design Techniques for EMC- Part 1:
Circuit Design and Choice of
Components, Kei th Armstrong, The EMC
Journal , February 1 999, avai l abl e vi a the
' Publ i cati ons and Downl oads' pages at
www. cherrycl ough. com. Thi s arti cl e was
updated and i mproved wi th consi derabl y
i ncreased detai l i n The EMC Journal ,
January and March 2006, avai l abl e from
www. compl i ance-cl ub. com (search by
' Kei th Armstrong')
[32] "Choosing and Installing Mains
Filters, Kei th Armstrong and Ti m
Wi l l i ams, Compl i ance Engi neeri ng
magazi ne, January/February 2000, pages
68 75. Avai l abl e al ong wi th some other
useful arti cl es on choosi ng fi l ters vi a the
' Publ i cati ons and Downl oads' pages at
www. cherrycl ough. com
[33] Vi si t www. cortecVpC . com for
detai l s. The author has no di rect
experi ence of thi s techni que and makes
no cl ai ms for i ts effecti veness.
71 72
REO i s an ori gi nal manufacturer of hi gh
qual i ty power equi pment, i ncl udi ng
el ectroni c control l ers, components and
el ectri cal regul ators, al l backed by the
appl i cati on experti se demanded by
speci al i sed, i ndustri al sectors, such as .. .
Control l ers desi gned speci fi cal l y for use i n
the parts and materi al s handl i ng i ndustry,
together wi th a wi de range of
el ectromagnets for dri vi ng vi bratory
feeders.
Power control l ers for adj usti ng and
regul ati ng vol tage, current, frequency or
power, as wel l as i ts l ong establ i shed
vari abl e transformers (vari acs) up to 1 MVA
and sl i di ng resi stors of al l types. These are
compl emented by a range of modern,
el ectroni c, vari abl e power suppl i es.
Components for adapti ng vari abl e speed
dri ves empl oyed i n non-standard
appl i cati ons; i ncl udi ng i nductors, EMC
fi l ters and braki ng resi stors. The range of
i nducti ve devi ces extends i nto rai l way
components for el ectri cal tracti on and
rol l i ng stock, whi ch i ncl udes chokes and
hi gh-frequency transformers.
Speci al , toroi dal transformers used i n
safety, medi cal and energy-savi ng systems
pl us hi gh-frequency transfomers used i n
swi tch-mode power suppl i es.
Test equi pment such as l oad banks and
vari abl e AC/DC power suppl i es,
REO acti vel y searches for devel opment
partners, parti cul arl y i n ni che markets, and
consi ders thi s to be an essenti al sti mul us
for creati ng new and ori gi nal i deas.
SoI uti ons from REO
Kei th Armstrong graduated i n el ectri cal
engi neeri ng wi th a B. Sc (Hons. ) from
mperi al Col l ege London i n 1 972,
maj ori ng i n anal ogue ci rcui t desi gn and
el ectromagneti c fi el d theory, wi th a
Upper Second Cl ass Honours (Cum
Laude). Much of hi s l i fe si nce then has
i nvol ved control l i ng real -l i fe i nterference
probl ems i n hi gh-technol ogy products,
systems, and i nstal l ati ons, for a vari ety
of compani es and organi sati ons i n a
range of i ndustri es.
Kei th has been a Chartered El ectri cal
Engi neer (UK) si nce 1 978, a Group 1
European Engi neer si nce 1 988, and has
wri tten and presented a great many
papers on EMC. He i s a past chai rman
of the EE' s Professi onal Group (E2) on
El ectromagneti c Compati bi l i ty, i s a
member of the EEE' s EMC Soci ety,
and chai rs the EE' s Worki ng Group on
' EMC and Functi onal Safety' .
Contact: Kei th Armstrong by emai l at
kei th. armstrong@cherrycl ough. com or
vi si t the Cherry Cl ough websi te
www. cherrycl ough. com
Keith Armstrong from Cherry Clough
Consultants
See www.reo. co. uk/
guides for lots of
other practical
guides, similar to
this one, relating to
Electromagnetic
(EM) phenomena
The Author
EMC Fi I ter
Si ngl e phase,
250 V,
hi gh performance
uni t sui tabl e for
most appl i cati ons
3 phase,
3 x 440 V,
3 l i ne mai ns fi l ter
wi th very hi gh
attenuati on
EMC Fi I ter
EMC Fi I ter
EMC Fi I ter
3 phase,
3 x 480 V
bookcase styl e
fi l ters, wi th very
hi gh attenuati on
3 phase,
3 l i ne mai ns fi l ter
wi th i ncreased
attenuati on
Vi ew further products on-I i ne @www. reo. co. uk
Product ExampI es
73 74
3 phase,
motor choke
upto 1 200 A
P64, 900 V
Braki ng
resi stors upto
1 2000 watts
Hi gh-current
RF fi l ters wi th
i ncreased
attenuati on
upto 1 600 A
400 V, 3 l i ne
si nusoi dal
fi l ter for use
wi th VSD
Braki ng Resi stor
Motor Choke
EMC Fi I ter
Si nusoi daI Fi I ter
CI assi cs
Automati on Systems
Motor ControI Systems
Communi cati on Systems
RenewabI e Systems
Control l ers for vi bratory feeders Fi el d bus and gsm
Rheostats and vari acs Sol ar transformers
Soft-starts
Dri ve Systems
Trai n Systems
Test Systems
Medi caI Systems
I nducti ve Components
Power EI ectroni cs
Chokes and hi gh frequency
transformers
Power suppl i es and l oad banks
Fi l ters and braki ng resi stors
REO - Market Sectors
Medi cal Transformers
Phase-angl e and frequency
control l ers
Chokes, resi stors and
transformers