Elma Electronic Inc. in Fremont, Calif., is adding liquid-flow-through (LFT) cooling to the company's line of OpenVPX embedded computing development platforms.

Designed to accept as many as six 6U VPX modules on a 1-inch pitch, the chassis also has a built-in power supply or a VITA 62 plug-in power module. The VITA 48.x family of standards covers several cooling approaches.

Ratified in July 2018, VITA 48.4 liquid-flow-through cooling defines the basic dimensions, heat exchanger, mechanical assembly, and chassis interface for liquid cooling for 6U VPX plug-in modules. It specifies the dimensions and tolerances to ensure mechanical intermateability within associated subracks.

An integrated liquid-to-air heat exchanger provides the necessary fluid for cooling via quick disconnect (QD) coupling assemblies. The plug-in modules use liquid that flows through a core heat exchanger located within the heat sink of the module to cool the electronic components on the circuit boards. The QD coupling assemblies connect to a chassis coolant inlet and outlet.

The built-in heat exchanger on the embedded computing chassis uses either water or a high flow rate water/glycol mixture to provide a cooling capacity of 500 Watts. For easy system monitoring, a flow indicator shows whether liquid is circulating.

Optional backplanes can be built with wider slot pitches of 1.2 and 1.6 inches to accommodate wider plug-in modules. For more information contact Elma online at www.elma.com.