You need top‑level protection for highly sensitive ECUs, and radar and sensor systems?
Defense environments push electronics to their limits. Our potting and dispensing solutions ensure reliable electronics performance even under extreme conditions in challenging applications.
Considerable challenges for electronics
Electronic components, sensors, radar systems, satellite components or ultrasound technologies must operate reliably under a wide range of environmental conditions.
Protection from harsh environments
Snow, dirt, water, temperature fluctuations, vibration and strong acceleration forces all impact these components.
Engineered for maximum reliability
Dispensing and potting with suitable materials absorb shock and acceleration forces and provide effective damping for the sensitive electronics.
Dispensing & potting solutions for defense systems
Our solution portfolio includes potting for shock and vibration protection, moisture protection, thermal management and vacuum potting for the highest safety standards – ensuring reliable protection of sensitive components. We process a wide range of materials, from epoxy resins, polyurethanes, silicones and gap fillers for thermal management to silicone‑ or PU‑based foams. Both one‑component (1K) and two‑component (2K) materials can be dispensed reliably and with high precision.
We protect your electronics with
- automated high-quality potting & dispensing solutions
- for a wide range of materials
- including inline inspection solutions
We protect your electronics with
- automated high-quality potting & dispensing solutions
- for a wide range of materials
- including inline inspection solutions
High-performance sealants provide a protective barrier for electronic components against moisture, dust, and chemicals. They also dampen vibrations, reduce noise, and can act as a bonding agent when used with specialized adhesive materials.
In-line quality assurance
Integrated into the dispensing cell, the sealing application is inspected and monitored in real time during adhesive and sealant dispensing. This built in quality monitoring saves time, space, and resources while ensuring a fully traceable product.
Maximum protection from thermal stress, vibration, and harsh environments
Potting protects electronics against heat, moisture, vibration, and dirt. This improves durability, reliability, and performance. As even small amounts of trapped air inside a component can cause corrosion, reduce thermal dissipation, and - in the worst case - lead to short circuits or even fire. Vacuum potting is the method of choice when potting is essential for ensuring the functionality of critical components such as sensors or components exposed to heavy load, including transformers, ignition coils, and capacitors.
Vacuum potting is the method of choice when it comes to applications where optimum quality, safety, and reliability are required.
Enhancing Stability for Electronic Components: Foam Potting
2K self-rising foam potting is becoming increasingly important for protecting electronic components and sensor assemblies exposed to mechanical and acoustic stress. Its unique material properties provide advanced damping performance, effectively reducing vibration.
In addition to mechanical protection, the foam significantly improves thermal safety. Its flame‑retardant behavior and strong thermal insulation help limit heat transfer, mitigating thermal propagation and offering an added safeguard against thermal runaway.
Electronic devices and components must not overheat, otherwise they may fail to operate correctly. With rising power densities and increasing requirements for robustness and reliability, effective thermal management has become a critical challenge.
Thermally conductive materials, whether pastes, gels, gap fillers or potting compound, efficiently dissipate heat from electronic components. As material properties become more demanding, stable, high-quality processing depends increasingly on precise, abrasion resistant dispensing technology.
FAQ
Which materials are compatible with Atlas Copco's electronics dispensing technology?
Atlas Copco’s electronics dispensing systems support a wide range of potting and dispensing materials, including epoxy resins, polyurethanes, silicones and gap fillers for thermal management, as well as silicone‑ or PU‑based foams. Thermally conductive, radiation‑ or moisture‑curing systems, both one‑component (1K) and two‑component (2K) materials can be dispensed reliably and with high precision.
The wide variety of casting resins, potting compounds, encapsulants and related processing procedures can sometimes make it challenging to find the right material and dispensing system for your application.
Ask our dispensing experts or make use of the analytics labs in our Innovation Centers.
Which dispensing solutions support the production of high reliability sensor and radar electronics?
There are several electronics dispensing options available deepening on the specific application. Atlas Copco’s broad portfolio include Dispensing Cells and Process Modules designed for sealing or gapfiller applications of medium to large batch production, making them suitable for high‑quality manufacturing of sensors, radar modules, and other miniaturized electronics. Depending on the component’s geometry and functional safety requirements, potting solutions performed either under atmospheric conditions or in a vacuum might be the right choice.
Read an insight in speed-dispensing in our blog.
When is vacuum potting necessary?
Vacuum potting is used when:
- Bubble‑free encapsulation is critical, e.g., in safety‑relevant, high‑precision or high‑performance electronics.
- Components have complex geometries, such as undercuts or tight gaps, where atmosphere potting cannot prevent voids.
- The resin must also absorb shock or provide damping.
- Absolute reliability and insulation integrity are required for long‑term function.
For more information download Expert Guide Vacuum Potting
What special dispensing requirements apply in the defense industry?
Dispensing processes in the defense industry must comply with process‑stability and highest quality requirements to ensure reliable performance of safety‑critical components. Essential factors include traceable process parameters, reproducible dispensing results, and perfectly conditioned materials to achieve maximum reliability of electronic components. These high standards apply across a wide range of defense applications, including artillery systems, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), helicopters, satellites, radar equipment, and communication systems.
Which potting system solutions are recommended for electronics exposed to extreme vibration, acceleration, or shock loads?
Polymer resin potting applied under atmospheric or vacuum conditions significantly enhances mechanical strength, vibration resistance, and long-term durability when the material is properly mixed, processed, and degassed. For highly sensitive electronics, vacuum potting is particularly recommended to ensure void-free encapsulation and maximum structural integrity. Depending on the specific application requirements - such as weight, thermal expansion, or damping characteristics - structural foam solutions can also provide effective shock absorption while reducing overall system mass.
Is there a global service for critical electronics production?
Yes. The productline Scheugenpflug provides worldwide service support through a global network of service hotlines and regional service teams.
To maintain high availability for safety‑critical electronics production, Scheugenpflug offers fast troubleshooting and field service, availability kits and high spare‑parts availability to minimize unplanned downtime and more.
For full service portfolio see here.
Can dispensing technology be integrated into an existing automated production environment?
Yes. The flexible plug & produce solutions for electronics dispensing have different levels of automation - from control of the dispenser in its own axis system (ProcessModule) to a complete turnkey solution (an inline vacuum chamber or inline dispensing cell) integration of ready-made modules in your existing production line.