Semiconductor Heat Dissipation and Heat Sink Calculations( Page 1 of 4

Semiconductor Heat Dissipation and Heat Sink

Calculations
(with a motor control H-Bridge design example)
Ralph Wallio, WØRPK WØRPK at netINS.net

IMPORTANT NOTE

This discussion was written a couple of years ago. SOLUTIONS CUBED has since replaced
these older modules with units using much more efficient MOSFET technology complete with
heat sinks. See http://www.solutions-cubed.com/.

I recently acquired a pair of MINI-MOD MOTOR MIND H-Bridge modules from SOLUTIONS
CUBED. These modules include PIC 16C620 processors which allow a master controller to
communicate H-Bridge motor commands via a serial data stream. The MOTOR MIND uses an
ALLEGRO A3952SW H-Bridge device with specifications allowing motor voltage up to 30V,
continuous motor current of 2A, and maximum power dissipation of 3.5W when the device is
operated without a heat sink in a 25dC ambient environment or 10W when a heat sink holds
tab temperature below 125dC (http://www.allegromicro.com/).

A seemingly simple application question about whether this device has the guts to drive a 12V
D.C. motor which draws 1.8A under design load has evolved into a significant educational
process. ALLEGRO includes very little power and heat dissipation discussion in their device
specification documents but NATIONAL does offer LMD18200 Application Note 694 which
includes a substantial segment on power dissipation calculations. This discussion is based on
NATIONAL's contribution (http://www.national.com/design/index.html).

Worst case approximations of H-Bridge Total Power Dissipation (Ptot) requires views of three
contributors, Quiescent Power Dissipation (Pq), Conductive Power Dissipation (Pcond) and
Switching Power Dissipation (Psw),

Ptot = Pq + Pcond + Psw

Quiescent Power Dissipation, Pq

(Device power consumption under quiescent, no load, conditions)

Pq = Logic Supply Voltage x Logic Supply Current + Load supply Voltage x Load Supply
Current (under no load conditions)

Logic Vcc = 5V
Logic Icc(brake) = 40mA
Load Vbb = 12V (for the design example)
Load Ibb(off) = 6.5mA

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Semiconductor Heat Dissipation and Heat Sink Calculations( Page 2 of 4

Pq = 5V x 40mA + 12V x 6.5mA = 0.28W

Conductive Power Dissipation, Pcond

(Power dissipation of load current switches (two required). The equivalent series resistance of
the H-Bridge is approximately twice the on-resistance of one switch.)

Pcond = 2 x Irms^2 x Rds(on)

Irms = worst case value of RMS load current = 1.8A (for the design example)

Rds(on) = ON resistance of each power switch at operating junction temperature

ALLEGRO specifications include Output Saturation Voltage, the collector-to-emitter voltage

drop, Vce(sat), for both source and sink drivers. Worst case, 1.8V, occurs with maximum load
current of 2A. Vce(sat) can be converted to ON resistance using Rds(on) = Vce(sat)/Irms =
1.8V/2A = 0.9 Ohms.

Pcond = 2 x 1.8A^2 x 0.9 = 5.8W

Switching Power Dissipation, Psw

(Switching power dissipation is the combination of energy dissipated by switches and
protection diodes during the ON/OFF switching action.)

Psw = (Eon + Eoff) x F

Eon = (Vs Io Ton)/2 + Vs Qrr + Vs Io Trr

Eoff = (Vs Io Toff)/2

Vs = Load supply voltage = 12V

Io = Load peak current = 1.8A
Ton = Switch turn on time = 2.9uS
Toff = Switch turn off time = 0.7uS
Qrr = Protection diode recovered charge = 150 nanocoulombs
Trr = Diode reverse recovery time = 100nS
F = Operating frequency of H-Bridge = 15.625KHz

Eon = (12V x 1.8A x 2.9uS)/2 + 12V x 150nC + 12V x 1.8A x 100nS = 35.28-06 Watt-Seconds

12V x 1.8A x 0.7uS

Eoff = (12V 1.8A 0.7uS)/2 = 7.56-06 Watt-Seconds

Psw = (35.28-06 + 7.56-06) x 15625Hz = 0.67W

Approximate Total Power Dissipation, Ptot, can now be totaled,

Ptot = Pq + Pcond + Psw = 0.28W + 5.8W + 0.67W = 6.75W

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Semiconductor Heat Dissipation and Heat Sink Calculations( Page 3 of 4

Note that Pcond contributes 5.8/6.75=86% of the total. It appears we can reasonably eliminate
most of the design work by estimating Ptot as Pcond/.85 and thereby deal only with Irms and
Rds(on) or Vce(sat).

The answer to the first question is YES, it is reasonable to drive a 12V motor drawing 1.8A with
the ALLEGRO A3952SW H-Bridge device. A second question now surfaces, when dissipating
6.75W, what heat sinking methods can be used to remove heat from the H-Bridge device?
WAKEFIELD ENGINEERING,
manufacturer of a robust line of "Thermal Management Solutions", (read, "heat sinks"), offers a
significant thermal design technical discussion in their current catalog. This discussion applies
the concept of THERMAL RESISTANCE, resistance to the flow of heat from a source, the
semiconductor junction, through the package or case, through a heat sink to the ambient
environment. WAKEFIELD's methods are used in this discussion (http://www.wakefield.com/).

We can quickly prove a heat sink will be required. Beyond ALLEGRO's graphed specification
that operation without a heat sink is limited to 3.5W of power dissipation in a 25dC ambient
environment, we can use the temperature rise specification for the A3952SW package of
36dC/Watt. Starting at 25dC, and dissipating 6.75W, that is 25dC + (36dC/Watt x 6.75W) =
268dC, well over the maximum allowable junction temperature of 150dC.

We need to select a heat sink which will keep the tab and junction well below 150dC. For this
we will need to establish an ambient environment and for this exercise we will use 25dC,
normal room temperature. We will also need the device junction-to-tab thermal resistance
which is specified as 2.0dC/Watt. We also will need to specify a tab-to-sink thermal resistance
which could be as low as 0.09dC/Watt but installation methods may set a practical limit of
0.50dC/Watt. Finally, we will need to set a desired maximum junction temperature and for this
exercise we will use 100dC, 2/3 of maximum (a reasonably conservative constraint).

Thermal Resistance from junction to heat sink equals the sum of Thermal Resistances from
junction to tab and from tab to heat sink,

TRjs = TRjt + TRts = 2.0dC/Watt + 0.50dC/Watt = 2.5dC/Watt

Therefore change in junction Temperature (with a reasonable heat sink) is the product of
power dissipation and Thermal Resistance,

Delta Tj = 6.75W x 2.5dC/Watt = 16.9dC

Maximum heat sink temperature is calculated by subtracting junction temperature change from
desired maximum junction temperature,

MAX Ts = MAX Tt - DELTA Tj = 100dC - 16.9dC = 83.1dC

Finally, we calculate the allowable heat sink temperature rise when it is loaded with 6.75W of
power dissipation,

Delta Ts @ 6.75W = MAX Ts - Ta = 83.1dC - 25dC = 58.1dC

Consulting the WAKEFIELD catalog, we select the smallest, lightest, least expensive product
that will meet calculated requirements. WAKEFIELD makes numerous cast, stamped and

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Semiconductor Heat Dissipation and Heat Sink Calculations( Page 4 of 4

extruded heat sink designs. They provide thermal performance specifications for both natural
convection and forced convection using blowers. Consulting the natural convection
specifications, a product is found that will dissipate 7.5W with a temperature rise of 58dC, our
design requirement. A 680-75A maximum efficiency omnidirectional heat sink is often used
with TO-3 (now known as type TO-204AA) and TO-220 devices but can be ordered blank, with
no holes. As it happens, heat sinks from this product line are already available from lab stock
and will be used for this project.

WØRPK Home Page

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