Mentor Graphics Corp. has introduced the T3Ster (“trister”) thermal transient tester for LEDs, board-level LED arrays and luminaires. Together with the company’s FloTHERM thermal simulation tool based on computational flow dynamics (CFD), lighting designers can model and improve heat transfer through the LED, printed circuit board (PCB) or luminaire system during design and … [Read more...]
LED Thermal Standardization: A Hot Topic
Introduction The main topic of the article is how to cope with the increasing need for standardization of thermal characterization of LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) and LED-based products (see Fig.1 showing a typical LED package). The LED-business is growing much faster than analysts predicted five years ago. Unfortunately, the progress in thermal characterization has not kept … [Read more...]
Compact thermal modeling in electronics design
Compact thermal modeling in electronics design Sarang Shidore Flomerics Inc Introduction The challenge of accurately predicting junction temperatures of IC components in system-level CFD simulations has engaged the engineering community for a number of years. The primary challenge has been that near-exact physical models of such components (known as detailed thermal models, or … [Read more...]
A Simple Thermal Resistance Model – Isoflux Versus Isothermal
In most cases today thermal design for electronic products is performed with the aid of sophisticated computational fluid dynamics and heat transfer codes. Nonetheless, there may still be occasions when a thermal designer needs a quick estimate of the external thermal resistance of a package or heat sink that does not warrant the use of powerful computer codes. In such cases an … [Read more...]
Design of Experiments for Numerical Parameter Studies of Electronic Systems: Optimizing the Cooling Strategy of an Ethernet Switch
Introduction As electronic products become more sophisticated and design margins tighten, defining the thermal management strategy early in the design cycle is vital to ensure a cost-effective design for the level of heat dissipation. Optimizing the cooling system for an electronic product can involve juggling many design parameters, such as airflow rate, fan and vent … [Read more...]
