Garching, October 17, 2023 – Everyone knows them: the gray distribution boxes on the side of the road where telephone and DSL lines come together – often “decorated” with graffiti and covered with advertising. They are exposed to wind and weather day in and day out and often look pretty worn out after many years – which is also due to the material. Housings made of aluminum are particularly robust. They are easy to care for and 100 percent recyclable. Compared to other materials, aluminum has many other positive properties that make it ideal for outdoor use.
A modern telecommunications infrastructure is essential for the economy and society. Without the Internet, nothing would work for us. The well-known distribution boxes, in which the most modern IT and network technology for fiber optic and xDSL connections are often installed, are correspondingly important.
Municipalities and telecommunications companies have the choice of what material the housing should be made of. Weight, workmanship, weather resistance, temperature behavior, appearance and the topic of sustainability play important roles. Aluminum, which Raycap uses for its outdoor housings, offers a particularly large number of advantages.
Sustainability makes aluminum particularly valuable
Aluminum can be recycled as often as desired and up to 100% without changing its properties and requires relatively little energy to do so. Aluminum is a pure metal and non-toxic. If it does end up in the environment, there are no unpleasant surprises (as with other chemical substances). In addition, only a small amount of material and small wall thicknesses are required to produce dimensionally stable housings that can withstand environmental influences and deliberate vandalism.
As if made for bad weather
Powder-coated aluminum has no problem with bad weather or harsh conditions: whether salt water, spray, road salt, rain, hail, snow, strong sunlight, bitter cold, urine, acidic or alkaline soils, aluminum housings remain attractive and fulfill their function. Even high heat and large amounts of fine particles do not cause it to age. It is also non-flammable and dissipates heat excellently. This reduces air conditioning costs in summer and helps cool sensitive system technology in all seasons. Dirt is washed away by the rain or can be easily wiped off. To adapt the color to the surroundings, aluminum housings can be powder-coated during production and can therefore accommodate special color requirements.
Safe against brute force and espionage
Outdoor enclosures must also be protected against physical violence and graffiti. Raycap’s aluminum housings meet the highest resistance classes and, with a special anti-graffiti coating, also stand up to posters, adhesives and spray paints. The external robustness intentionally makes unauthorized access more difficult and protects the network infrastructure inside the housing from damage, espionage and manipulation – an important factor when used in critical infrastructure (KRITIS).
In addition, the electrical conductivity of aluminum has several advantages: It makes grounding easier, prevents the formation of potential and automatically acts as a Faraday cage that protects the sensitive system technology from high potentials in the environment, for example, due to lightning strikes and leakage currents.
