ElectroFlo®

Complex
Electronics Cooling
Analysis
Why do I care that
Electronics are Getting Hot?
Electronics fail due to excess heat.

For every 10 °C temperature increase there is a 50%

reduction of operating life

Overheating on the Xbox cost Microsoft an estimated

$1.15 Billion
Contents
 Introduction to ElectroFlo®
◦
 Liquid Cooled Motor Controller
◦ Component Definition

◦ Joulean/Trace Heating


◦ Coldplate Modeling (Liquid Cooling)


◦ Results
◦

Why do Electronics Get
Hot?

Complexity

Compactness

Cost Factors
 Benefits of Thermal
Analysis
Low Cost
›Much lower cost than experimental investigation
Speed
›Study many different scenarios and optimize your design
Completeness of Results
›Results available for entire system; not just at sensor locations
›No inaccessible locations
›No inaccuracies as a result of probe interference
Modeling Difficult Conditions
›Study worst case and other scenarios

A Stitch in Time Saves

Nine
 ElectroFlo® Finds Solutions for
Complex Electronics Cooling
Problems
Utilizes many years of aerospace experience

 Very fast and stable solver

 Patented Automated Radiation Network
 Automatically calculates heat from voltage calculation
 Used globally with customers in US, South America,
Europe and Asia
 Easy to use and full-featured



Example: Thermal Analysis of a Liquid Cooled
Motor Controller
Geometry
Coldplate, components, traces and other
conductors from sources in various formats.
Heat Generation
Two main contributors:
Switching Devices and other Component losses
Current flow in traces and connectors

Internal Heat Transfer Sample model of Motor Controller

Conduction
Internal natural convection (using CFD)
Internal thermal radiation

Cooling to Ambient
Ambient natural convection, conduction and
radiation
Cooling through Liquid Channels of Coldplate

 Defining IGBTs and other Complex
Components
 Geometry Definition
◦ Geometry can be created within ElectroFlo or read in from CAD


 Boundary Conditions (BCs)

◦ Thermal Resistance Planes are created to isolate different sections
of component
◦ Using manufacture data (i.e. junction to case resistance), thermal
links are created with a given resistance
◦ Functions and Tables can be used to accurately depict the power
dissipation of the devices.
◦

 Saving to Component Library

◦ Once the component has been created, the it can be saved to a
database and then added to any model.
◦ BCs and Geometry will be automatically read in and linked to the
component, but changes can be made like anything else in
ElectroFlo


◦
Component Definitions
◦ Switching Stack
Due to complexity of components, simplified models
of the IGBTs and Diodes are created using variable
Power Dissipation values

Define components in your terms

 Electrical Calculation to Determine
Power Dissipation within Traces and
 Leads
Circuit Definition
◦ Geometry is defined like any other package, but materials have
electrical properties as well as thermal properties
◦ Electrical Links can be added (with optional Heat Generation)
◦ Electrical Connection Regions are automatically determined
◦ Fixed/Variable Electrical Resistance planes can be added


 Voltage Calculation
◦ Voltage Field is incrementally determined as electrical resistance
varies with temperature
◦ Voltage inputs (Current and Voltage) can vary with time


 Power Dissipation (Thermal Losses)

◦ From the voltage field, ElectroFlo calculates the power dissipation
for the electrical circuit
◦ Determines local hot spots, within both traces and simple
components


◦
Electrical Calculation to Determine
Power Dissipation within Traces and
Leads
◦ Fuse Model
All heat comes from Voltage Field calculation
Fuse will “blow” if it reaches a set temperature
User can look at transient case of what will happen in
the time immediately following the blown fuse.

Fuse Case

Electrical Resistance
Planes Temperature Results

Aluminum Standoffs
Electrical Calculation to determine
Power Dissipation within Traces and
Leads
◦ Trace Heating
All heat comes from Voltage Field calculation
Shows local “Hot Spots” within layer
Accurately capture transient effect
Use Links to model vias without overloading your
model
Temperature Plot Power Dissipation Plot

Don’t miss the Hot Spots

Heat Exchanger Model for Determining
Cooling through Coldplate Channels
 Define Geometry
◦ Define the size and shape of the channel
◦ Create coolant path by either reading in file, or clicking on
screen


 Pressure Calculation
◦ User can set fixed/variable flowrate
◦ Solver will calculate the flowrate based on the pump and
pressure loss through the model
◦ Coolant through ElectroFlo model can be part of larger system


 Heat Transfer
◦ Heat is removed by the coolant path and the fluid temperature
increases as it travels through the Coldplate


 Optimizing your Design

◦ User can quick change the coolant path, or channel properties
with having to modify the rest of the model
Heat Exchanger Model for determining
cooling through Coldplate Channels
◦ Coldplate Model
 Solved assuming fixed volumetric flowrate through
channels
By creating full system model, you can get very
accurate transients and solve for thermal soak back
issues


The right tool for the job

 Model Results
Postprocessing
Animation and Color plots for all variables
Watch streamlines developing
Over 100 post processing tools


 Model Results
 Create Automated Reports
◦ Transient Graphs
◦ Hottest Components
◦ See where your heat is going
◦ Report is customizable
◦ Use your Company Template in
PowerPoint


Stop spending most of your time

creating reports, just automate it!
Contents Revisited
 Introduction to ElectroFlo®
◦ A Stitch in Time Saves Nine
 Liquid Cooled Motor Controller
◦ Component Definition
 Define components in your terms
◦ Joulean/Trace Heating
Don’t miss the Hot Spots
◦ Coldplate Modeling (Liquid Cooling)
The right tool for the job
◦ Results
Stop spending most of your time creating
reports, automate it!
 Questions/Comments


Join us next time when we see how this model fits into a
rack system with three other liquid cooled electronics
boxes


 Thank you
 Hamish Lewis
 hlewis@tesint.com