Sizing up Hinges

Real-world analysis prevents premature failure, overdesign, and seal compromise. The question of hinge strength often arises during the design of an enclosure. Determining the strength of the individual hinges is fairly straightforward, but relating the strength predictions to real-life situations can be a challenge. The dimensions of the door, the position of the center of gravity, the position of the hinges, and the installation tolerances profoundly affect the load-carrying capability of a hinge. The most common enclosure-door orientation has hinges in a vertical plane. Nontrivial out-of-plane loads render simple tensile testing of single hinges meaningless. When sizing such a door, the engineer must consider vertical load from the weight of the door, load sharing between hinges, horizontal loads caused by door and hinge geometry, gasket force against the door, and shock loading. The vertical load from the weight of the door can be easily calculated