Altitude Corrections

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Overview
Introduction

Air properties with elevation

Fan laws

System impedance, fan curves, operating points

Thermal aspects

Case Study: Heat sink modeling at high altitudes

with Icepak
p
Summary

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Introduction
Air properties vary with altitude:
Density
y of air decreases with increasing
g altitude
Ambient air temperature decreases with increasing altitude
1.4

20

1.2

10

Temperature C

Density kg/m
m3

0.8

0.6

10

20

30

0.4
40

0.2

50

0.5

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1.5

Height m

2.5

60
60

3.5
4

x 10

0.5

1.5

Height m

2.5

3.5
4

x 10

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The Effects of Altitude

Air density varies with altitude
Air
Ai density
d
it decreases
d
with
ith altitude
ltit d
Use of larger fans at higher altitudes may be required.

Heat transfer rate is proportional to the air mass flow rate

(decreasing with altitude).

Air temperature decreases with altitude

The density may actually increase within the first 10K ft.
The drop in temperature with altitude tends to increase the air
density; however, this effect is secondary.

The density of air at very high altitudes (e.g. >50K ft) is very
low (much less air available for cooling)

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Fan Laws
Fan air speed proportional to rotational speed,

v2 2
=
v1 1

Pressure increase across fan is directly proportional to air density

2
2

v
2
P v 2 ;
= 2 22 = 2 22
P1 1v1
11

Q = Av

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Altitude Compensating Fans

Fan can be classified into two types:
(1) Typical ( constant with elevation)
(2) Altitude compensating ( increases with elevation)

Altit d compensating
Altitude
ti ffan

G
Generic
fan

Fan performance affected less for

altitude compensating fans

P ~ reduction in density

Source: Belady, 1996

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System Impedance: Flow Regime

Laminar flow
( P invariant
(P
i
i t
with elevation )

Turbulent flow
(P decreases with
elevation)

Laminar flow

Source: Belady, 1996

Not a function of density,

y ;
Usually varies linearly with v

P Cv

Turbulent flow
Linear variation with density, ;

P v 2

Usually quadratic variation with v

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System Impedance
Turbulent

Laminar

Mixed flow
Source: Belady, 1996

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Operating Point: Turbulent Flow

o Elevation affects
Fan performance.
performance
System impedance.

o Fan Performance
The volume flow rate stays
y almost
unchanged at higher elevations, but the
resulting mass flow rate drops due to
lower density. P v 2

o System Impedance
Lower density leads to lower Re at higher elevations due to lower density.
P
Pay attention
tt ti tto flflow regime
i
att hi
higher
h elevations
l
ti
as marginally
i ll tturbulent
b l t flflow att
sea level may transition to laminar regime with elevation.
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Operating Point: Laminar Flow

Laminar

Mixed

Laminar Flows:
o Volume flow rate and mass flow rate decrease faster than turbulent
flows (both velocity and density decrease).
Mixed Flows:
o The flow behavior is intermediate between those of laminar and
turbulent flows.
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Impedance Coefficient
cP =

P
1 v 2
2

P2 2
=
P1 1

, c P Re m

1 m

v2

v1

2m

P2 2
Turbulent flows :

P1 1

1 m

Pressure drop
p is a function of density
y and velocity.
y
For turbulent flows, pressure drop is a function of density only.
m may be a function of altitude or constant but it is system dependent.
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Procedure to Determine m

1 Determine the impedance coefficient at the sea level for

1.
u=0..umax
2. Determine m
3. Repeat step1 for a different altitude, alt1
4. Determine m for alt1
5. Check if ms determined at step2 and step4 are equal
6. If different, determine m as a function of altitude

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Thermal Aspects

Conservation of energy:

q = m& c p T = Qc
Q p T ; T = q / ( Qc
Q p)
Elevation , volume flow rate
remains the same for turbulent flow
decreases for laminar flow
For a given q,
T increases for turbulent flow,
flow as decreases.
decreases
T increases even more for laminar flow as both and Q
decrease.

Heat transfer coefficient:

q = hA (T s T air );
h prescribed using Nu = hL / k
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Heat Transfer: Flat Plate

h2 2 v2
=

h1 1v1

Nu x C Re ;
n
x

Laminar flow over a flat plate

Nu

hx

= h x x / k = 0 . 332 Re

1/2
x

Pr

1/3

( v )1 / 2

Turbulent flow over a flat plate

= 0 . 0296 Re

4/5
x

hx ( v)4/5

4/5

Nu

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Pr

1/3

14

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System Modeling at High Altitudes with

Icepak
o Use the appropriate air density
o Flow regime:
Flow regime might change with elevation
Make the necessary changes in the flow field, e.g. use fluid blocks in
potentially laminar flow areas

o Fan curve modification:

multiply pressure drop by the density ratio (high altitude density / sea level
density) for standard fan
density),
fan.
Account for changes in the rotational speed of the fan (if any)

o Use proper temperature for the ambient air (if required)

o Use proper operating pressure (for simulations with ideal gas
assumptions)

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Resistance at High Altitudes

Most generally, the relationship between the pressure drop
and the velocity is given as:

P =

1
1
kl v + k q v 2
2 23 1
2424
1
3

linear term

quadratic term

kl: linear loss coefficient

kq: quadratic loss coefficient

Linear term dominant for low speed flows

Quadratic term dominant for high speed flows,
In general, both terms play a role in the pressure drop across systems.
If a quadratic relationship exists for a resistance element at sea level for
(very) low speed flows, it may not be applicable at very high altitudes.
Try defining the P vs. speed relationship as a combination of linear and
quadratic
d ti tterms.

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Case Study: Heat sink modeling at high

altitudes
Extruded Aluminum HS
53 fins, 0.025 in thick
0.3 in base thick.
No side/top by-pass

1000 W source
underneath the
HS

Across = 7.825 in * 1.0 in

uin = 0 18 m/s at the SL

Average inlet velocity

uin = 0 22 m/s at the 20K ft altitude

uin = 0 40 m/s at the 50K ft altitude

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Case Study: Heat sink modeling at high

altitudes
Sea Level
u (m/s)

CFM

ufin(m/s)

Res based on hydraulic diameter

Re(fin)

Re(ch)

0.1

1.069691

0.172

58.64789

284.6739

0.2

2.139382

0.344

117.2958

569.3478

0.3

3.209073

0.516

175.9437

854.0217

0.5

5.348455

0.86

293.2394

1423.37

0.75

8.022683

1.29

439.8592

2135.054

10.69691

1.72

586.4789

2846.739

1.25

13.37114

2.15

733.0986

3558.424

1.5

16.04537

2.58

879.7183

4270.109

21.39382

3.44

1172.958

5693.478

32.09073

5.16

1759.437

8540.217

4.5

48.1361

7.74

2639.155

12810.33

64.18146

10.32

3518.873

17080.43

7.5

80.22683

12.9

4398.592

21350.54

96.27219

15.48

5278.31

25620.65

12

128.3629

20.64

7037.746

34160.87

15

160.4537

25.8

8797.183

42701.09

18

192.5444

30.96

10556.62

51241.3

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18

Cabinet : Laminar
Heat sink : Laminar

Cabinet : Turbulent
H t sink
Heat
i k : Laminar
L i

Cabinet : Turbulent
Heat sink : Turbulent

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Case Study: Heat sink modeling at high

altitudes
Res based on hydraulic diameter
(viscosity decreases with altitude)

20000 feet
u (m/s)

CFM

ufin(m/s)

Re(fin)

Re(ch)

0.1

1.069691

0.172

32.4478

157.5

0.2

2.139382

0.344

64.8956

315

0.3

3.209073

0.516

97.3434

472.5

0.5

5.348455

0.86

162.239

787.5

0.75

8.022683

1.29

243.3585

1181.25

10.69691

1.72

324.478

1575

1.25

13.37114

2.15

405.5975

1968.75

1.5

16.04537

2.58

486.717

2362.5

21.39382

3.44

648.956

3150

2.5

26.74228

4.3

811.195

3937.5

32.09073

5.16

973.434

4725

4.5

48.1361

7.74

1460.151

7087.5

64.18146

10.32

1946.868

9450

7.5

80.22683

12.9

2433.585

11812.5

96.27219

15.48

2920.302

14175

12

128.3629

20.64

3893.736

18900

15

160.4537

25.8

4867.17

23625

18

192.5444

30.96

5840.604

28350

22

235.332

37.84

7138.516

34650

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19

Cabinet : Laminar
H t sink
Heat
i k : Laminar
L i

Cabinet : Turbulent
Heat sink : Laminar

Cabinet : Turbulent
Heat sink : Turbulent
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Case Study: Heat sink modeling at high

altitudes
Res based on hydraulic diameter
(viscosity decreases with altitude)

50000 feet
u (m/s)

CFM

ufin(m/s)

Re(fin)

Re(ch)

0.5

5.348455

0.86

46.68044

226.5845

10.69691

1.72

93.36087

453.169

1.5

16.04537

2.58

140.0413

679.7535

21.39382
3938

3.44
3

186.7217
86

906.338
906
338

2.5

26.74228

4.3

233.4022

1132.923

32.09073

5.16

280.0826

1359.507

42.78764

6.88

373.4435

1812.676

53.48455

8.6

466.8044

2265.845

64.18146

10.32

560.1652

2719.014

85.57528

13.76

746.887

3625.352

10

106.9691

17.2

933.6087

4531.69

12

128.3629

20.64

1120.33

5438.028

14

149.7567

24.08

1307.052

6344.366

17

181.8475

29.24

1587.135

7703.873

20

213.9382

34.4

1867.217

9063.38

24

256.7258

41.28

2240.661

10876.06

28

299.5135

48.16

2614.104

12688.73

34

363.6949

58.48

3174.27

15407.75

40

427.8764

68.8

3734.435

18126.76

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20

Cabinet : Laminar
Heat sink : Laminar

Cabinet : Turbulent
Heat sink : Laminar

Cabinet : Turbulent
Heat sink : Turbulent
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Case Study: Operating Point

7

Increasing altitude

Operating points

P (in.w.g.)

Fan curves modified

with density ratio
Flow tends to be more
laminar with altitude

SL DP

(turbulent flow at SL
may become laminar
at a certain altitude)

20K DP
50K DP

SL Fan
20K Fan
50K Fan

0
0

50

100

150

200

250

O
Operating
ti points
i t

Q (CFM)

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300

P (in.w.g.)

Q(CFM)

Cabinet

Heat Sink

Sea level

2.46

100.85

Turbulent

Turbulent

20K ft

1.44

84.18

Turbulent

Turbulent *

50K ft

0.373

78.26

Turbulent *

Laminar

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Case Study: Determining m

0.40
SL-1

0.35

20K-1
50K

0.30

SL-2
20K-2

cp

0.25

50K-2
Power (50K)

0.20

Power (SL-2)

y = 12.145x -0.9067
R2 = 0.9982

0.15

y = 3.5421x -0.6261
R2 = 0.995

0.10
0.05
0.00
00
0.0

10
1.0

20
2.0

30
3.0

40
4.0

50
5.0

60
6.0

70
7.0

80
8.0

90
9.0

10 0
10.0

11 0
11.0

Re_fin/1000

m = 0.91 if Re fin < 2000

m = 0.63 if Re fin > 2000
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Laminar flow ~ v, Turbulent flow ~, v

m is
a function of Refin
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22 invariant with altitude

Case Study: Heat Transfer

Density(kg/m3)

Density ratio

mo *1000 (kg/s)

mo ratio

Ts,max (C)

T (C)

Sea level

1.164

55.4

48.5

28.5

20K ft

0.56

0.481

22.25

0.402

75.6

55.6

50K ft

0.143

0.123

5.28

0.095

217.1

197.1

P (in.w.g.)

Q(CFM)

Cabinet

Heat Sink

2.46

100.85

Turbulent

Turbulent

1.44

84.18

Turbulent

Turbulent *

0.373

78.26

Turbulent *

Laminar

Nu x C Re n ;

h2 2 v2
=

h1 1v1

Following
g steps
p similar to those to determine m, n can be determined

At 20K ft altitude:
Air density decreases by 52%, mdot decreases by 60%
Flat plate HTC degraded by 45.3%
45 3% (case study heat sink HTC
degraded by 51%)

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Summary

Flow regime in a system may change due to the drop in density (air flow tends
to be more laminar at higher altitudes)

P
Pressure
d
drop is
i a function
f
ti off

density only for turbulent flows

velocity and density for laminar flows

P
Power
law
l
coefficients,
ffi i t m and
dn

system dependent
can be estimated

Overallll heat
O
h t ttransfer
f coefficient
ffi i t decreases
d
due
d to
t high
hi h altitude,
ltit d mostt probably
b bl
less than the density ratio

in typical electronics cooling applications, the decrease in heat transfer coefficient

due to high altitude of 10,000 ft above sea level is about 20-25% whereas this
decrease is 45-50% at 20000 ft.

The percent degradation in junction temperatures is likely to be less, as the overall

thermal resistance also includes conduction resistance inside the solid (which is
invariant with altitude)

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