Stress relieved hose routing to liquid-cooled electronics rack door

A cooled electronics system comprising:

• an electronics rack, the electronics rack comprising:
• an air inlet side and air outlet side, the air inlet and air outlet sides respectively enabling ingress and egress of external air;
• at least one electronics subsystem requiring cooling;
• at least one air-moving device, the at least one air-moving device being capable of causing external air to flow from the air inlet side of the electronics rack across the at least one electronics subsystem, to the air outlet side of the electronics rack;
• and
• an outlet door hingedly mounted along a first edge thereof to the electronics rack at the air outlet side of the electronics rack, the outlet door having an opening therein allowing egress of air from the electronics rack;
• a cooling apparatus for the electronics rack, the cooling apparatus comprising:
• an air-to-liquid heat exchange assembly mounted to reside within the opening in the outlet door;
• a system coolant inlet plenum and a system coolant outlet plenum mounted to the outlet door along a second edge thereof in opposing relation with and remote from the first edge of the outlet door hingedly mounted to the electronics rack, the system coolant inlet plenum and the system coolant outlet plenum being in fluid communication with the air-to-liquid heat exchange assembly and facilitating passage of system coolant therethrough, the system coolant inlet plenum comprising a coolant inlet and the system coolant outlet plenum comprising a coolant outlet;
• a system coolant supply hose and a system coolant return hose disposed above the electronics rack, the system coolant supply hose being coupled at a first end to the coolant inlet of the system coolant inlet plenum and at a second end to a system coolant supply header of a data center containing the electronics rack, the system coolant return hose being coupled at a first end to the coolant outlet of the system coolant outlet plenum and at a second end to a system coolant return header of the data center, wherein the system coolant supply hose and the system coolant return hose are each sufficiently flexible and of sufficient length to allow for opening or closing of the outlet door;
• and
• a stress relief structure attached to an upper portion of the outlet door and clamped to the system coolant supply hose and the system coolant return hose to hold the first ends thereof in fixed relation to each other at the upper portion of the outlet door and to relieve stress on connect couplings at the first ends thereof to the coolant inlet and the coolant outlet, respectively, of the system coolant inlet and outlet plenums during opening or closing of the outlet door.

A method of fabricating a cooling apparatus for an electronics rack, the method comprising:

• mounting an air-to-liquid heat exchange assembly to a door of the electronics rack, the door being vertically, hingedly mounted along a first edge thereof to the electronics rack at one of an air inlet side or an air outlet side of the electronics rack, wherein air moves through the electronics rack from the air inlet side to the air outlet side;
• mounting a system coolant inlet plenum and a system coolant outlet plenum to the door along a second edge thereof in opposing relation with and remote from the first edge of the door hingedly mounted to the electronics rack, the system coolant inlet plenum and the system coolant outlet plenum being in fluid communication with the air-to-liquid heat exchange assembly for facilitating passage of system coolant therethrough, the system coolant inlet plenum comprising a coolant inlet and the system coolant outlet plenum comprising a coolant outlet;
• coupling a first end of a system coolant supply hose to the coolant inlet of the system coolant inlet plenum and a second end thereof to a system coolant supply header of a data center containing the electronics rack, and coupling a first end of a system coolant return hose to the coolant outlet of the system coolant outlet plenum and a second end thereof to a system coolant return header of the data center, wherein the system coolant supply hose and the system coolant return hose are sufficiently flexible and of sufficient length to allow opening or closing of the door;
• and
• attaching a stress relief structure to an upper portion of the door and clamping the stress relief structure to the system coolant supply hose and to the system coolant return hose to hold the first ends thereof in fixed relation to each other at the upper portion of the door and to relieve stress on connect couplings at the first ends thereof to the coolant inlet and the coolant outlet, respectively, of the system coolant inlet and outlet plenums during opening or closing of the door.