Annex II of the ELV directive relaxes rules for automotive system development
Automotive hardware design is a lucrative area for mechanical engineering professionals – but fraught with environmental compliance management issues. As well as GADSL and the international material data system, there’s also the ELV (end of life vehicle) directive. Like the RoHS and WEEE compliance schemes, ELV restricts the use of four toxic metals – lead, cadmium, mercury, and hexavalent chromium. However, the EU now realizes there are certain applications where the use of these substances cannot be avoided and have relaxed the rules accordingly. ELV includes mechanical design (Unlike the WEEE/ROHS directives, which focus on electronic and electrical equipment). For example, ELV covers the use of lead in galvanized steel; not just sheet metal, but that used for machining purposes and hot-dip galvanized steel components. These have been subcategorized and clarified. Other exemptions cover the use of lead in vibration dampers and lead in glass and ceramics. The latter category covers VHDL design and even FPGA design, as it describes lead used in dielectric ceramic materials of capacitors, both in integrated circuits and as discrete semiconductors. Interestingly, a new exemption has been added for lead-containing thermoelectric materials used in automotive system designs which reduce CO2 emissions. New changes regarding the use of hexavalent chromium in absorption refrigerators (used in motor caravans) and mercury in lamps were also described. In many cases, existing exemption dates have simply been shifted, or wording changed. In others, the changes are more significant. We at Enventure Technologies offer a wide range of services to the auto industry, including data cleansing solutions to aid ELV compliance management.
Changes to ELV directive make life easier for automotive system designers
ELV compliance management can be a time-consuming and confusing issue for those involved with automotive mechanical engineering, or who make embedded firmware for the automotive industry. However, a recently added annex to the ELV directive has made environmental compliance management just a little easier for the automotive engineering industry. The ELV directive was introduced to address the impact that dismantled end of life vehicles have on the environment, with regard to toxic waste reaching landfill sites. It was issued in line with the WEEE/RoHS directives, and among other things placed strict limits on the levels of lead, mercury, cadmium and hexavalent chromium to be used in the design and manufacture of motor vehicles and their components. This made things extremely difficult for many automotive design engineers, who found the new rules unfeasible for certain system designs and engineering applications. Evidently, the message reached the right people, because on March 30, 2011, Annex II of the ELV directive was unveiled. This is a list of ELV exemptions, which acknowledges the fact that the use of the four heavy metals mentioned above is technically unavoidable for certain components and materials. The new exemptions make regular data cleaning an essential part of your environmental compliance management strategy, as the exemptions are periodically reviewed to see if they are still warranted, in a process known as ATP, or Adaptation to Technical Progress. We at Enventure Technologies offer targeted environmental compliance solutions for the automotive engineering industry, ensuring you are always up-to-date with the latest WEEE, RoHS and ELV compliance changes.
Is your Californian VHDL design RoHS compliant enough for the EU?
California has adopted its own versions of the EU WEEE and ROHS compliance laws – but if you are exporting goods to EU states, you still need to follow the EU ROHS/WEEE rulings, because Californian protocol may not be enough. The RoHS and WEEE directives have become global acronyms, generic terms for the regulation of hazardous materials used in electrical and electronic equipment, and for its disposal. Each country and state manages its criteria differently. Therefore, you should not assume that RoHS WEEE legislation outside the EU mirrors that within it. The California SB 20/SB 50 statutes were introduced in January 2007, under the California Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003. Although similar to the EU directives, the Californian versions have important differences which those exporting printed circuit boards and other EEE products to the European Union must be made aware of. Although the SB 20 ruling has banned the sale of electronic devices prohibited under the EU RoHS directive, this is across a far narrower range of products and materials. It covers only the four heavy metals (lead, cadmium, hexavalent chromium and mercury), and applies only to CRT, LCD and plasma screens which are diagonally four inches or larger across. There have been some changes to bring Californian RoHS more inline with that of Europe. For example, the SB 50 ruling has extended the range to include manufacturer-refurbished products. In 2010, the Lighting Efficiency and Toxics Reduction Act brought lamps and bulbs into the picture – adding another tier of complexity! Being WEEE/RoHS compliant is a minefield wherever your business is located. We at Enventure Technologies offer a full range of environmental compliance services to help you cope.
The RoHS directive: Can we really live with lead-free solders?
The RoHS/REACH directive bans the use of lead in PCB layouts, ASIC designs and other electronic systems, which has had far-reaching consequences for the engineering industry worldwide. Following the global adoption of the RoHS regulations, there has been a monumental shift towards lead-free solders by component manufacturers and PCB designers. However, the decision has proven both controversial and costly, not least to the customers. The problem with omitting lead from tin solders is that, in its absence, spontaneous crystalline ‘whiskers’ can form. Electrically conductive, they can take anything from a few days to several years to develop, and sometimes (no-one knows why) don’t grow at all. They can bridge contacts, short electrical circuits, bridge traces, and no printed circuit board or VLSI design is exempt. In a piece of military (or civil) avionic hardware, the results can be catastrophic. There is currently no fail-proof way to test susceptibility of new PCB designs to whiskering, no way of predicting its occurrence, and no guaranteed prevention, except a minimum 3% lead addition. Many of the hardware systems using embedded firmware – for example, military applications – are exempt from environmental legislation. However, in a predominantly OTS (off the shelf) industry, component manufacturers aren’t prepared to start making specialist one-off products. It costs them money. Can we live without lead solders? It seems we may have to. The race is on to find suitable alternatives, but in the meantime those still using traditional lead-containing components will find them harder and harder to obtain. Part obsolescence management and PCN alerts are just two of the solutions we at Enventure Technologies offer, to help you cope with problems caused by environmental compliance.
Environmental compliance and EMC emissions
Environmental compliance is not confined to the RoHS/WEEE directive and International Material Data System. As well as the materials used in manufacturing, there is the environmental impact of the system design itself to consider, such as EM (electromagnetic) emissions. EM compliance is a major issue for any electrical/electronic hardware designer, whether their product produces EM intentionally (as in some digital signal processing applications) or unintentionally, as in computer design. Electromagnetic emissions are released from any system which has a current running through it, either as a series of pulses or a continual stream. If not kept to a safe level they can be a danger to health, causing nausea, headaches, depression, sensory hallucinations and even cancer. However, the risks can be minimized by effective system design and screening. As with many areas of environmental compliance, the EU has a stringent EMC directive, which all OEMs exporting products to Europe must adhere to. US directives are more limited. The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) ruling covers digital signal processing in broadcasting and telecommunications, while the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) has a protocol in line with the EU automotive EMC directive, which became law in 2006. All electrical systems must undergo stringent testing to ensure they meet EM environmental compliance regulations. However, around 50% of prototypes fail the first test. New Pre-test EMC system software, similar to that used in computational fluid dynamics, is helping to minimize this. We at Enventure Technologies offer an extensive range of engineering services for those affected by EMC legislation, from part obsolescence management to DSP programming.