Thermal Design Solutions

The introduction of handheld devices such as smartphones has made life easier for a lot of people. Now, people are always connected with their environment wherever they go. The instant messages, the phone calls and video communications, which are now taken for granted, were not there even 15 years ago. Such devices were made possible by advances in many areas of engineering. Thermal engineering is one of them. As with other electronic devices, handheld devices need power to function. Some components such as the processor and wireless components consume more power than others. The power consumed is released as heat inside the system. This heat must be ultimate rejected to the environment. Otherwise, heat will build up and increase the temperature of the various components inside the system and lead to all kinds of problems. That’s why handheld systems must be design not only for core functions, but also for thermals. With increased temperature, mobile devices can become ineffici...

Today, electronic systems are manufactured with tens of thousands of intricate components densely spaced and that are unimaginable just a few decades ago. Today’s devices are not only much more compact, but they also dissipate a great deal of heat. This heat must be rejected from the system, for otherwise the device will overheat and may ultimately malfunction. Almost all electronic devices are supposed to work within certain temperature ranges. And each component usually has its own temperature spec. For example, IC processors, which are the hottest part of electronic systems, have temperature limits of no more than about 90C. Other components have much lower temperature threshold, such as the display, which be limited to no more than 60C or so. Exposed surfaces have even lower temperature thresholds. Touch comfort may limit these surfaces to 45C or less. Exceeding thermal limits has consequences. Almost all failure mechanisms are enhanced with temperature exponentially. Hence, it...

The electronics industry is one of the fastest-growing industries currently as demand for items such as mobile phones, laptops, and other types of electronic products is rapidly increasing. Now, people don’t just want any cell phone, but one that is small and powerful, among other things. However, designing an increasingly smaller devices also brings huge challenge to engineers as this means the heat produced must be dissipated properly but in a smaller form factor. As the form factor shrinks, the  thermal design  options become more limited. This is because, with smaller devices, there is no space for active cooling devices. Heat rejection by passive means is also proportional to external surface area, which deceases as devices become smaller. These days, thermal design is not just about putting heat sinks and fans. The process requires a great deal of precision to determine exactly how much cooling is needed and where it is required. It involves extensive thermal analysi...

Technology has improved a lot in recent times. Things have become a lot easier with the help of state-of-the-art machines and tools, especially in the thermal analysis and engineering sector. Tools such as  Ansys Thermal Analysis  have become very advanced, easy-to-use and very accurate. While you don’t need to be an expert in numerical analysis to understand and use these tools, you cannot just do everything by yourself. Often times, you will need to find an experienced thermal analysis expert to get the proper thermal analysis done properly and quickly. The question is, how can you find the right thermal analysis expert? Well, here are a few things you may do to find the right thermal analysis and design expert: 1.  Research:  You cannot just select anyone who claims to be an expert. Doing your own research about the analyst or the company that you are going to trust is important. This will include going over details given on their website as well as email or p...

You might have heard people complaining about their phone getting heated really quickly, right? This can happen for different reasons but the main oneis a problem with the  thermal insulation  of the electronic system. No all systems have optimal thermal designs. Even in those systems that are well-designed, sustained high task operations can drive system temperatures so high, affecting user experience not only due to high temperatures, but also due to throttling. Throttling is basically the reduction of CPU frequency to make the system work slower and dissipate less heat. So, it is very important that electronic systems are well-designed not only for core functions, but also for thermals. Having apt  electronics cooling  system is a prerequisite to having the a fully-functional machine. Oftentimes, this is done using inhouse thermal engineers. However, outside thermal consultants can also be used to design your system quickly, accurately and cost-effectively. ...

If there is one thing that plays a crucial role in today’s thermal engineering perhaps it is Thermal Analysis. In any thermal engineering design project, thermal analysis plays a key role in which the properties of materials are carefully studied as well as their effect on temperature.  Thermal analysis , when carefully conducted, will tell the thermal behavior of any system, showing the temperature at various points and the temperature gradients. And it will also show how heat is exchanged between components inside the system and between the system and the environment. By providing such information, thermal analysis can guide you to the right layout for your system. Just a couple of decades ago, engineers used to work day and night to get limited information by conducting time-consuming experiments. The introduction of thermal analysis software, such as Icepak and FloTHERM, has changed all of that. Now, engineers can get accurate results in much less time. While conductin...