Project: An Additive Manufacturing (AM) company has found us and asked for advice for their product’s compliance
Timescale: One working week, but stretched to two months due to client’s project timeline.
Scope of Work: To assist the client define requirements for compliance (EMC and Safety). To produce an EMC Risk Assessment.
The client is a UK based manufacturing start-up.
For this product, we should put a high priority on the immunity side rather than the emission side (though passing conducted and radiated emission are also required to get the product complied with EMC directive, hence get the CE marking on the product).
The product features a rather large user interface, in fact, most of the manufacturing process commands are executed through the touch screen. Therefore, the screen needs to be robust against ESD.
Some other immunity issues we have seen on other products in the past include screen black out when electric fast transient/burst is applied into the system. Therefore the system also needs to show good immunity against EFT, surge, dip and so on.
One special immunity test that needs to be done is to test the product against static/low frequency magnetic field defined in IEC 61000-4-8.
The scope of IEC 61000-4-8 testing relates to the immunity requirements of equipment, only under operational conditions, to magnetic disturbances at power frequencies 50 Hz and 60 Hz related to:
- residential and commercial locations
- industrial installations and power plants
- medium voltage and high voltage sub-stations
Since the product is quite big and heavy, the work should be broken down into two:
- Review work to check all the key components used in the system, the wiring and harnessing in the product, the filter design, the installation and so on.
- An in-situ EMC test which should cover conducted emission, radiated emission, immunity to ESD, immunity to EFT and 50/60Hz magnetic field.