Effect of Elevated Pressure on Electronic Circuitry

[jsriggs]

Hello all,

I'm designing some bits of circuitry which will be fitted into a hyperbaric chamber.
Has anyone any experience of pressurising electronic circuitry?
Does anyone know what effect elevated pressures (in the order of 5 Bar / 73PSI) may have on electronic components such as capacitors, resistors, quartz crystals, ICs etc?
I'd rather not enclose these particular bits of circuitry in individual pressure vessels as I want to keep cost and complexity down, so I'm thinking of potting them in polyurethane or simply fitting them into oil filled pressure balanced enclosures.
Any help much appreciated!

James

 

[VSMVDD]

i think you need to design carefully using smd for all parts esp the crystal and chips

if you hunt the datasheets for the chips youll find out there max mins

as for resistors and caps smd are quite stable at high preasures but they WILL change value with preasure variation this can be minimised by epox potting etc

ive seen pcbs made in such a way and milled so all components fit flush and then its epoxed and finaly steel plate added top and bottom