Factory-floor edge computing
Compact PCs collect and process data close to production equipment. Coordinate a fanless housing or ducted fin assembly with cabinet spacing and the actual local air temperature.
Industrial Computing & Edge Devices
Thermal Management for Industrial Computing & Edge Devices
Keep industrial computing platforms thermally stable with custom heat sinks, heat pipe assemblies, liquid cold plates, and fanless enclosures engineered around your real operating conditions.
Fanless conduction cooling
Compact heat transport
Repeatable production
Turn your enclosure, heat load, and temperature limits into a practical cooling plan.
Discuss My Cooling RequirementsDesigned Around Conditions at the Edge
An open-bench temperature result tells only part of the story. Real deployments add restricted airflow, sustained workloads, and mechanical constraints.
Sustained processing loads
CPU, accelerator, and power-conversion losses share a small enclosure. A rising local temperature can trigger throttling and reduce available compute performance.
Restricted or unavailable airflow
Sealed housings and closely packed cabinets limit heat rejection. A fanless design still needs a continuous conduction path and adequate external convection.
Hotspots and tight clearances
Connectors, memory, and storage compete with the cooling envelope. Spreading heat and routing it to useful surface area must respect every keep-out zone.
Vibration and service life
Mounting loads, thermal cycling, and repeated maintenance can change the interface. Stable contact pressure and controlled assembly help preserve the intended heat path.
Share the operating constraint that is shaping your next platform.
Review My Deployment ConditionsBuild the Heat Path Before You Freeze the Enclosure
Treat the device, interface, heat transport, and final heat rejection as one connected design.
Start at the heat source
Define continuous and peak power, source footprints, allowable device temperatures, and simultaneous loads.
Control the interface
Match contact flatness, TIM thickness, compression, and mounting force to the component and tolerance stack.
Close the path to the environment
Choose enclosure fins, a remote fin stack, or a liquid loop using the installed airflow or coolant conditions.
Thermal Architecture Flow
01
Device
CPU / accelerator / power stage
02
Interface & spreader
TIM + contact block + heat transport
03
Heat rejection
Enclosure fins / airflow / coolant
Bring the thermal path into your mechanical design review early.
Plan My Thermal ArchitectureCooling Solutions Matched to Your Architecture
Choose a thermal structure that fits the available space, heat distribution, and maintenance strategy of your industrial computing platform.
Heat Sink Enclosures
For fanless box PCs and industrial gateways. Conduct heat into a finned aluminum housing while coordinating mounting, grounding, sealing grooves, and service access.
- Machined device contact features
- External fins matched to installation orientation
Heat Pipe & Vapor Chamber Assemblies
For offset processors and compact accelerator modules. Move heat to a useful fin area or spread a concentrated source across a larger base.
Liquid Cold Plates
For dense computing modules with a defined liquid loop. Integrate a compact heat exchanger with controlled contact geometry and specified coolant interfaces.
- Flow distribution and pressure-drop review
- Coolant compatibility, cleanliness, and leak testing
Compare the cooling routes against your enclosure and thermal budget.
Find My Cooling SolutionBring Cooling Into the Places Your Devices Work
Application conditions guide the cooling concept—from a factory cabinet to a mobile platform or a protected outdoor installation.
Mobile industrial platforms
Warehouse and material-handling systems combine limited space with vibration. Keep contact loads controlled and route heat away from sensitive connectors and storage.
Protected outdoor gateways
Remote gateways face high ambient temperatures and restricted maintenance. Review external convection, mounting orientation, sealing details, and solar exposure at system level.
Tell us where your device runs and how it is installed.
Review My Application
A Defined Heat Path for a 35 W Fanless Gateway
A finned enclosure project shows how contact geometry, mounting orientation, and test conditions work together.
35 W
Gateway heat load
28 K
Contact-block rise above ambient
For an Australian industrial gateway, morton developed a 180 × 140 × 70 mm enclosure using a 6063 finned body, 6061 endplates, and thermal pads to connect the device to the sidewall fins.
In a still-air bench test at 45 °C ambient, with the specified vertical mounting and no direct solar exposure, the heat-source contact block reached approximately 73 °C.
Sealing grooves, grounding contacts, and mounting points were reviewed together. After 15 initial samples, the project moved to a 600-set enclosure delivery.
Define the test conditions that your own fanless enclosure must meet.
Discuss My Enclosure ProjectVerify Performance Under the Conditions That Matter
Make the sample test useful for engineering approval and repeat orders by recording the boundaries that determine the result.
Thermal verification
- Record source size, load map, inlet temperature, and measurement locations.
- Use installed airflow, mounting orientation, or specified coolant flow.
- Report hotspot temperature and thermal resistance with their test conditions.
Mechanical integration
- Verify contact flatness, critical dimensions, and connector keep-outs.
- Check mounting force, TIM compression, and assembly sequence.
- Review thermal cycling and vibration against the project test plan.
Liquid-cooling integrity
- Check coolant compatibility, port interfaces, and channel cleanliness.
- Measure cold-plate pressure drop at the defined flow and fluid condition.
- Link pressure and leak-test records to the approved part and batch.
Set acceptance criteria before the first engineering sample is built.
Define My Validation PlanFrom Thermal Requirements to a Repeatable Production Part
Keep engineering, purchasing, and quality working from the same approved drawings, sample evidence, and release criteria.
Requirements review
Share heat loads, source positions, target temperatures, enclosure space, and expected demand.
Output: agreed thermal and mechanical boundaries.
Concept & DFM
Compare cooling routes and review materials, interfaces, joining methods, and manufacturability.
Output: proposed structure and drawing review.
Sample & validation
Build engineering samples and check temperature, fit, contact pressure, and the agreed reliability items.
Output: sample evidence and a closed action list.
Production release
Freeze drawings and the control plan, complete first-article checks, and align packaging and delivery schedules.
Output: approved part, traceability, and change control.
Start with the drawings and operating conditions you already have.
Start My Engineering ReviewAnswers for Your Next Industrial Computing Platform
Resolve the practical questions that connect thermal design, mechanical integration, and sourcing.
Can an industrial edge computer always be made fanless?
The answer depends on heat load, allowable temperatures, enclosure area, ambient conditions, and installation. We review the complete conduction and convection path before recommending a fanless structure.
When should I choose heat pipes or a vapor chamber?
Heat pipes can move heat toward a remote fin area. A vapor chamber can spread a concentrated source across a wider plane. Space, load distribution, orientation, and mounting requirements determine the suitable structure.
What information is needed for a cooling review?
Send continuous and peak power, source footprints and locations, device temperature limits, enclosure drawings, airflow or coolant conditions, installation orientation, and expected quantities.
Can the enclosure help with sealing and grounding?
Yes. Sealing grooves, conductive contact areas, and mounting details can be designed into the housing. Ingress protection is validated on the final assembled system with its specified seals, connectors, and fasteners.
When does a liquid cold plate make sense?
Consider liquid cooling when source density and temperature limits exceed the available air-cooling envelope and a controlled liquid loop is available. The review includes coolant chemistry, flow, pressure drop, interfaces, cleanliness, and condensation control.
Can you support samples and controlled repeat orders?
Paid engineering samples can start from one piece. Repeat orders use approved drawings, first-article records, batch traceability, and agreed change control. Sample scope, tooling, quantities, and lead time are confirmed for the project.
Get an engineering answer tied to your own platform requirements.
Ask a Thermal Design Question
Start Your Industrial Computing Cooling Review
Share your thermal challenge with morton. We will connect the heat load, enclosure, interfaces, and production requirements in one practical review.
Application-focused engineering
Fanless, air-cooled, and liquid-cooled routes reviewed against your conditions.
Integrated thermal interfaces
Contact geometry, TIM, and mounting hardware considered together.
Sample-to-production support
DFM, engineering samples, and first-article documentation.
Controlled repeat supply
Approved drawings, batch traceability, and managed changes.
Tell Us About Your Project
A few details are enough to start the conversation.