Cleanrooms

Raised access floors for cleanrooms

Clean rooms in electronics, semiconductors, aerospace, pharmaceuticals and similar process industries use raised access floors both as a service void and, where required, as part of the airflow path. The floor has to support heavy process equipment, stay cleanable and low-shedding, and, in electronics work, form part of the static-control system.

Air often moves through perforated panels as part of the room ventilation, so open area, edge sealing and cut-outs matter as much as the panel core. A conductive or static-dissipative wearing surface is specified where electrostatic discharge has to be controlled; an aluminum panel alone does not make a floor ESD-compliant without a designed grounding system.

Rhino’s published copy already places RhinoAlutec® solid and perforated panels, and DecorLux® conductive vinyl, in clean-room use. This is a primary market segment for Rhino even though the current Application CMS does not yet have a Cleanrooms child page.

Clean room with raised access floor
Process clean room interior
Clean room technical floor
Clean room working floor

Where raised access floors are used

  • Semiconductor, electronics and precision-assembly clean rooms that must support heavy equipment on a tight, precise floor.
  • Rooms that supply or extract air through perforated raised-floor panels as part of the ventilation concept.
  • Areas that need a static-dissipative or conductive wearing surface as well as a cleanable, low-particle finish.
  • Pharmaceutical and life-science process rooms where the floor has to be cleanable and compatible with the room classification.
  • Aerospace and other process clean rooms, and laboratories or inspection rooms that share clean-room discipline and ESD control.

Standards often specified

  • ISO 14644 sets the cleanliness classification of the room. It is not a floor-product standard, but the floor must not shed particles and must work with the designed airflow so the room can hold its class.
  • Structural performance is commonly specified to EN 12825, because process tools can be very heavy and the floor still has to stay flat and interchangeable.
  • ESD control, where required, is commonly specified to IEC 61340-5-1 (with floor resistance tested to IEC 61340-4-1) or to ANSI/ESD S20.20. The installed floor, footwear and grounding have to be designed as one system.
  • Reaction to fire is usually classified to EN 13501-1. Confirm the required class and any local clean-room or GMP finishing rules on the project specification.

These are frameworks commonly written into a specification in this market. They are not a claim that a particular Rhino product is certified to every standard listed. Check the Technical Specs on each recommended Models page, and confirm the required tests with the project specification.

Recommended products

Recommended project references

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