Fabric over foam EMI shielding gaskets help in cutting down harmful emissions emanating from electronic devices used in home and office. Both conductive and fabric shielding materials are used in electronic enclosures to reduce the effects of unwanted radiations that not only affect the performance of your devices but also prove hazardous to human health if one is exposed to them for an extended period. Among various EMI-preventive solutions, gaskets are highly preferred by designers for their ease of configuration. As a result, they are widely used across the industries for shielding devices of different forms, sizes, and shapes. Again, among various gasket design options, fabric over foam gaskets have gained tremendous popularity in the recent years. These specially-designed gaskets are made of fiber cloth, mainly, nylon yarn or synthetic polyester to get the desired EMI protection. The cloth material is covered with nickel and copper to improve resistance to abrasion and conductivity. Sometimes, these gaskets use polyurethane-made foam as its core material. The nickel-copper blending helps the shielding device achieve a high degree of attenuation. Thanks to its innovative design and affordability, these new-age EMI gaskets make a practical shielding solution for different industries. Read this guest post to learn several other aspects of these EMI gaskets.

Commercial Applications of Fabric–Over- Foam Shielding Gaskets

Fabric shielding gaskets come with many features and advantages that make them suitable for use in different sectors including military, automotive, consumer electronics, telecommunication, and medical. The lightweight design, excellent resistance to abrasion and ease of customization make these gaskets one of the best solutions for reducing unwanted interference. The high shielding attenuation and conductivity are perfect for various applications that require low compression force. Enclosures used in telecommunications, computers servers, IO gaskets and connectors, external and internal hard drives, panel gaskets, digital cameras, printers, card cage gaskets, and cabinet doors are some of the applications where you can use fabric over foam gaskets to get the best results.

The Benefits

There are multiple benefits of using EMI shielding gaskets. Here are the most important ones:

• Most of the gaskets offer low resistance of 0.07 ohms per square for increased conductivity.
• They have the potential to offer >65 dB to > 80 dB of EMI shielding efficiency.
• They are known for their low compression set.
• They can be cut perfectly minus any torn ends or shredded fibers or particles.
• They are available in the market with proper adhesive backings.
• Thanks to their flexible features, when the gaskets are installed, they will not diminish the look and feel of your equipment wherever visible, like in cabinet door frames.
• They are easy to install and practical shielding solutions.
• The use of copper and nickel in the fiber material makes these gaskets abrasion resistant.
• They are flame resistant and free from Halogen constituents with little or no possibilities of ecological degradation.
• The use of metal coating improves the durability of your shielding materials.
• They are compatible with various host materials.
• They work seamlessly even under extreme temperatures from minus 40 degrees to 158 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Conductive fabric gaskets offer excellent shielding performance from 90 to 110 dB.
• The foam core used is effective for low compression that helps in the manufacturing of lightweight EMI shielding materials.
• They can be quickly cut into various designs, configurations, forms, and shapes.

The benefits of these gasket materials are not limited to just a few industries or applications. The urethane-based core improves the gasket’s durability without affecting shielding efficiency. Besides, the use of metal in them offers improved attenuation, as well as protects the gaskets from the external environmental elements. The fabric over foam gaskets benefit you in terms of 60 to 70 percent of increased surface contact area than wire mesh products and about 40 percent better contact area compared to strip gaskets.

Design Options

The design and cellular structure of fabric shielding gaskets make them slip through the spaces and openings without difficulty. Hence you need different gasket designs to fit your specific application requirements. The commonly used models include L-shape, D-shape, U-shape, and P-shape units that block out the radiations effectively and protect your equipment from damage, thus ensuring uninterrupted performance. If necessary, you can also choose pressure containment for your extra-sensitive machinery.

Environment-Friendly Features

These fabric-shielding gaskets are known for their eco-friendly features, which are 100 percent free of halogens and meticulously tested to offer optimal EMI efficiency. You must consider safety as your top priority when looking for EMI shielding gaskets. That is because they are set up around high-cost equipment and machinery. Reputed shielding suppliers perform UL94-V0 burn test on these gaskets to determine their resistivity to flame. It is essential to ensure the safety of expensive equipment as well as protection from EMI.

It should be noted that when it comes to fabric gaskets, they offer the best shielding efficiency under controlled environments. Most of the high-end devices, equipment, and appliances today are designed to perform with maximum efficiency. Therefore, you need not spend extravagantly to make shielded enclosures work in these conditions. It is always better to play safe. Even if your device or equipment does not require operating under specific temperature ranges, it is a good practice to ensure a controlled surrounding to protect your devices from interference.

Reputed EMI product suppliers design durable fabric over foam shielding gaskets to minimize or eliminate interference. These products perform better than silver-coated aluminum silicones and integrate conductive fabric strengthening properties, thus improving conductivity and tensile strength. These gaskets are also ideal for maintaining compression for environmental sealing and controlling interference.  Besides blocking out EMI emissions and protecting sophisticated equipment, fabricated gaskets with the right compression can protect your devices from moisture, rain, stop water ingress during submersion, and endure pressure washing. Choose the best quality EMI shielding products are available in diverse shapes, profiles, and cross-section sizes. Before zeroing in on a particular product, discuss your requirements with a reputable shielding provider. These professionals can best guide you through your selection process.