Thermal design considerations of air-cooled high powered telecommunication cabinets

Telecommunication cabinets house numerous electronic components which dissipate heat to varying degrees. The thermal management of these components is of utmost importance in the design of these cabinets. CFD allows designers to try out and compare various cabinet configurations and enable an optimal design thus reducing unnecessary construction of cabinet prototypes and elaborate experimental tests, thereby resulting in cost savings and reduction in the lead time. This paper deals with design and thermal analysis of a CommScope outdoor integrated telecommunication enclosure, named RBA84-3036. This cabinet is air-cooled by a series of DC axial door mounted fans. Various design and cooling configurations will have to be considered and verified to meet the tight thermal requirements within the enclosure.