I was on a conference call and WebEx yesterday with the NAFEMS CFD Working Group, of which Mentor Graphics is a member. One of the people on the call had a lot of background noise on his phone, which turned out to be a due to a fan by his desk to keep his computer cool. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is a memory hungry, CPU intensive activity so I guess he was running a … [Read more...]

I’m off to SEMI-THERM later this month. SEMI-THERM is one of the premier thermal management conferences and has the best exhibition by far. The conference runs from 21-25 February, the first two days of which are devoted to professional short courses delivered by a number of leading names in electronics cooling, and past recipients of the IEEE’s THERMI Award. Short courses at … [Read more...]

Computational Fluid Dynamics, CFD, is a simulation technology that provides 3D predictions of fluid flow and heat transfer for a modelled system. Be it an electronics enclosure or a building, insights into the often complex air flow patterns can help designers better understand the physical behaviour of their design. Communication of such insights helps others to appreciate the … [Read more...]

Using CAD-embedded CFD upfront and throughout the design process is the only way to go when it comes to compressing design schedules. We call this approach Concurrent CFD, as the CFD analysis can be done concurrently with design changes, taking upfront CFD to the next level. The product’s performance can be checked at each design iteration, leading to a more fluent CFD process … [Read more...]

Heatsinks aren’t a novel energy efficient type of washing bowl, they are parts that are placed on high powered IC packages to help remove the heat more effectively and thus lower the operating temperature of the package which in turn increases reliability, can improve performance etc.  etc. Such approaches are observed in nature, from Elephants ears to the low sun … [Read more...]