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Thermal Management in
Electronic Equipment
Thermal Management in Electronic Equipment | February 2010
Contents
Abstract
Introduction
Medical Electronics
Consumer Electronics
11
13
Automotive Electronics
15
Process Flow
16
Conclusion
17
Appendix
18
Acronyms
18
References
19
Authors
19
ABOUT HCL
20
Abstract
Development in the electronics industry has come a long way
from nascent low performing devices to advanced devices with
high computational speed and power. The advancement in the
industry led to an exponential increase in power densities, which in
turn drove the innovation of smarter and smaller products. These
advanced technologies, coupled with miniaturization requirements,
guided innovation-driven thermal management in electronic devices.
Thermal management is essential in electronics, as it improves
reliability and enhances performance by removing heat generated
by the devices.
This paper highlights the development and challenges faced in the
thermal management of electronic equipment in various domains.
It gives an overview of innovative cooling solutions developed
over the years. It presents HCL case studies in various domains
such as medical, consumer, aerospace and defense, and automotive
electronics. It also gives a process flow chart which demonstrates
the thermal methodology of electronic equipment in general.
2010, HCL Technologies. Reproduction Prohibited. This document is protected under Copyright by the Author, all rights reserved.
Thermal Management in Electronic Equipment | February 2010
Introduction
The phrase thermal management encompasses the technology of the
generation, control and dissipation of heat generated in electronic
devices and systems. Heat is an inevitable by-product of every
electronic device, and is usually disadvantageous to performance and
reliability. The electronic packaging trend has been to reduce size
and increase performance of the product, both of which contribute
to exponential increase in power consumption of the system.
2010, HCL Technologies. Reproduction Prohibited. This document is protected under Copyright by the Author, all rights reserved.
Thermal Management in Electronic Equipment | February 2010
Medical Electronics
Thermal Management in Electronic Equipment | February 2010
2010, HCL Technologies. Reproduction Prohibited. This document is protected under Copyright by the Author, all rights reserved.
Thermal Management in Electronic Equipment | February 2010
2010, HCL Technologies. Reproduction Prohibited. This document is protected under Copyright by the Author, all rights reserved.
Thermal Management in Electronic Equipment | February 2010
2010, HCL Technologies. Reproduction Prohibited. This document is protected under Copyright by the Author, all rights reserved.
Thermal Management in Electronic Equipment | February 2010
2010, HCL Technologies. Reproduction Prohibited. This document is protected under Copyright by the Author, all rights reserved.
Thermal Management in Electronic Equipment | February 2010
Medical Electronics
The medical electronics area has traditionally included implantable
medical devices, medical diagnostic tools and monitoring devices.
Today, however, the market is being fueled by an explosive growth
in personal medical equipment. Driven by the need to reduce
healthcare costs, patients desires to manage their own health, and
an increased emphasis on preventive medicine, the adoption of
consumer based, portable and often wearable medical products is
increasing at a substantial rate. The major medical products can be
classified into two categories.
Large infrastructure equipment
Medical imaging systems (e.g. X-ray and MRI)
IT equipment (e.g. picture archival communication systems)
Biochemical analysis equipment (e.g. lab instruments and
DNA analyzers)
Small stationary - portable equipment
Patient monitoring systems
Bedside monitoring units
Challenges
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10
Thermal Management in Electronic Equipment | February 2010
Cooling Solution
Special baffles were designed to divert the flow from fans to heat
sink as the EMI/EMC shields were obstructing the flow
With the help of dedicated ducts, pressure drop was optimized
inside the system
To reduce the temperature of the unit, low thermal conductive
material was used between heat dissipating chips and the
unit surface
A low-noise fan
vibration standards
was
chosen
to
meet
noise
and
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11
Thermal Management in Electronic Equipment | February 2010
Consumer Electronics
In this era of communications and entertainment, growth of
consumer electronics is exploding. Consumer demand for increased
mobility, wireless connectivity and advanced features demand has
paved the way for a variety of new products, including servers,
laptops, ruggedized laptops, hybrid routers, data centers and
cameras. The silicon solutions driving these products are more
highly integrated than ever before, as advancements in process
technology are delivering system-on-a-chip (SoC) solutions that are
smaller, faster, and lower cost. These trends, along with the broad
range of emerging equipment, require diversity in new IC package
types to meet specific applications.
The evolution of the microprocessor from a 486 Intel chip to a
multi-core processor shows the exponential increase in power
density needed to achieve superior computing power. Figure 8
shows the comparative changes in processor wattage over the years.
The obvious change in the processors is the amount of power
consumption, which has increased from 70W to 250W in the last
decade. This power consumption has challenged the industry to
create cutting edge technologies to deal with thermal management.
Consumer electronics thermal management is one of the most
challenging and innovative in the entire technological landscape.
The semiconductor which involves chip cooling to server and
datacenter cooling has led to innovation of some of the finest cooling
technologies in the field of thermal management (Fig. 6).
Harsh environment
High power dissipation
Miniaturization
Competitive packaging factor with overall high heat flux
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12
Thermal Management in Electronic Equipment | February 2010
has
been
designed
for
the
The number of passes for the cold plate was optimized with a
constraint on minimizing the pressure drop
A simple, reliable, hassle-free and optimal cold plate has been
designed for next generation processors
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13
Thermal Management in Electronic Equipment | February 2010
14
Thermal Management in Electronic Equipment | February 2010
Cooling Solution
Detailed modeling was done for complex transformers, inductors
and bus bars
The cooling solution was provided using liquid technology
The cold plate was designed for optimum velocity and
pressure drop
Complex bus bars were designed and optimized
Joule heating effect was evaluated with respect to optimum
bus bar design
Transformers and inductors were cooled by routing the flow
through the optimized channels
Cold plate has been optimized with respect to pressure drop
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15
Thermal Management in Electronic Equipment | February 2010
Automotive Electronics
The quantity, value and complexity of electronics in passenger
vehicles continue to rise. This brings a corresponding increase in
shielding, grounding and thermal management challenges for the
automotive design engineer. Vehicle electronics can be loosely split
into in cab and out of cab applications.
In cab applications
Heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC)
Instrument panels
Radios
Infotainment
Satellite navigation
Head-up displays
Out of cab applications
Engine management ECUs
Braking ECUs
Diverse array of sensor units
The emergence and evolution of thick, soft thermal gap fillers in
either die-cut sheet or form-in-place formats range has enabled
engineers to effectively couple surface-mount devices to a chassis
or enclosure. At the same time, this approach can often simplify
and speed module assembly by removing the need for some
mechanical fixes.
Challenges
are
limited
to
conduction
and
The development of the electric car has propelled the need for
thermal management in the electric motor. The electric motor
couples inductors and a rotating hub to produce wheel motion.
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16
Thermal Management in Electronic Equipment | February 2010
Process Flow
A thermal engineer makes use of industry-wide best practices and his
judgment for engineering design decisions. The three most important
proponents in making engineering decisions: 1. Understand the
heat transfer circuit of the system (i.e. convection, conduction and
radiation); 2. A thermal equivalent model for analysis needs to be
identified for mimicking the exact model; 3. A process flow chart
must be designed to reduce errors in the model and analysis, and
to obtain the results quickly. Figure 12 shows the indicative best
practice for the thermal simulation of board level and system level
product designs.
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17
Thermal Management in Electronic Equipment | February 2010
Conclusion
This paper highlights the importance of thermal management
(reliability and performance of devices) in electronic equipment
with respect to ever increasing product packaging factors, thermal
wattages, and consumer needs. A glimpse of market trends and
consumer demand for electronics was presented, with a view
of the increasing importance of thermal management. Thermal
management needs, challenges and solutions were also highlighted.
An overview of specialized cooling solutions has been given with
respect to product advancement. Case studies were presented in
various domains (medical, consumer, aero & defense and automotive
electronics) to illustrate HCLs capabilities. A thermal management
methodology flow chart was designed using best practices, and
simulation approaches from the industry were also presented.
As needs and demands grow every day, thermal management
technology will continue to evolve.
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18
Thermal Management in Electronic Equipment | February 2010
Appendix
Source HCL Technologies Ltd:
The data represented in
this paper is from the vast experience of HCL Technologies
in Thermal Management. The data is collected from
100 different products in each of the following domains (Medical
electronics, Consumer electronics, Aero/ Defense electronics and
Automotive electronics).
Acronyms
CFD
CNT
Carbon Nanotubes
CRT
DIMM
ECU
EMI/EMC
IC
Integrated Circuit
IGBT
LRU
PWB/PCB
RF
Radio Frequency
UAV
VLSI
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19
Thermal Management in Electronic Equipment | February 2010
References
1. Scott Speaks Vicor, Reliability and MTBF Overview, Vicor Reliability
Engineering, Europe
2. Tai Phan and Joseph Steinman, AMC/ATCA Thermal Management:
A Case Study, Interphase Corporation
3. Dr. Robert Hannemann, Thermal Control of Electronics: Perspectives
and Prospects, Charlespoint Group, Boston, MA
4. Joseph Fjelstad,
Electronics
Thermal
Management
Challenges,
Verdant
Authors
Jagadish Thammanna is a Manager and Heads the CFD and
Thermal team at HCL Technologies. He has 15 years of experience
in Thermal management in all the niche domains and various
cross-application industries. His areas of interest include
Computational Fluid Dynamics, heat transfer and scientific
programming. In his vast experience, he has presented and published
many national and international papers at technical symposiums.
Ambuj Srivastav is a Thermal Analyst at HCL Technologies. He
has 5 years of experience in designing and developing innovative
solutions for the thermal management of electronic devices, and his
core domain areas expertise lies in thermal management of aerospace
and automotive lines of products. His experience in industry wide
practices has given him insight to work on the cutting edge and the
latest technologies in thermal management.
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20
Thermal Management in Electronic Equipment | February 2010
ABOUT HCL
HCL Technologies
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