04/05/2015 VibrationAnalysisForElectronicEquipmentElectronicsCoolingMagazineFocusedonThermalManagement,TIMs,Fans,HeatSinks,CFDSoftw

HEATSINKS

VibrationAnalysisForElectronic
Equipment
AUGUST1ST,2005

ByMichaelNikkhoo

CATEGORIES:Design,HeatSinks,Materials,Compounds,Adhesives,
Substrates,TechnicalBrief

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ISSUE:August2005

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TAGS:Heatsink,PrintedCircuitBoard,VibrationAnalysis
NoComments.Bethefirst

Thistopicisratheresotericandusuallyanafterthoughtincommercialandindustrialapplications.Inmilitary
anddefenseelectronics,itisoneofthemajordriversfordesignandproductarchitectureearlyoninthedesign
cyclewithspecifictargets/budgets.Aswithjunctiontemperaturerequirementsinathermaldesign,thereare
structuraldynamicissuesthatneedtobeaddressedupfronttoensuresuccessfulcompletionofaprogram.Mil
handbook810[1]amongotherspecificationsdrivestherequirements,qualificationandverificationof
hardware.TheequivalentonthecommercialsidewouldbespecificationsandtestsestablishedbyNEBS
(NetworkEquipmentBuildingSystem),Telcordia,etc.
Thecommercialproductdevelopmentcycleiscontinuallyshrinkingandanyredoofaprintedcircuitboard
(PCB)woulddelayproductreleasebyatleastafewmonths.Typicalchallengesfacingpackagingengineers
aresignalintegrity,componentplacement,EMI/RFI(electromagneticandradiofrequencyinterference),
thermalmanagementandsimilardesignissues.PCBstructuraldynamicsisnottypicallylookedintoandis
oftenaddressedonlyafterafailurehasoccurred.However,thisischangingslowlyastheincreasingthermal
loadsnecessitatetheuseofbiggerheatsinkswithmoreconvectiveheattransfercapacity.Thesheersizeand
massoftheseheatsinksinducedeflectionsthatcanwreakhavoconthesolderballsoftypicalhighpower
chips.

CaseinPoint
Amassiveheatsinkwithaspanof76to127mmismounted(suspensiondesign)onaBGA(BallGridArray)
chipwithafootprintroughly30.5x30.5mmlocatedinthecenterofa305x381mmPCB.Thequestiontobe
askedrelativetovibrationis:HowwouldthisaffectboarddynamicsvisavisNEBS,transportation,seismicand
similarspecificationsandwhatprovisionscanbemadetomitigate,ifnoteliminatetheredooftheboard
causedbylocalsolderjointfailure?Althoughthespecificsofheatsink/suspensionbackerplatedesignwould
alsobeofinteresttheyarebeyondthescopeofthisarticle.Toputthingsinperspectivewewillconsiderwhat
randomvibrationisandthenfollowthestepbystepapproachoutlinedbelowtosolvethisproblem.Forthe
purposeofclarity,asimplifiedexplanationisbeingused.

SolutionSteps
1)CalculateenergyinputtothePCB
2)Approximatenaturalfrequencyofaprintedcircuitboard
3)ApproximatePCBtransmissibility
4)Approximatesystemresponse,i.e.GrmsOUT
5)Approximatedeflectionbasedontheabove

UnderstandingRandomVibration
Randomvibrationisspecifiedforacceptancetests,screeningtestsandqualificationtestsasitmoreclosely
representsthetrueenvironmentinwhichelectronicequipmentmustoperate.Randomvibrationisnonperiodic
withallofthefrequencieswithinagivenbandwidthpresentallthetime,andatanyinstanceoftime.This
meansthatoverafrequencybandwidthof20to2000Hz,allofthestructuralresonanceswithinthesame
bandwidth,atthebox,boardandcomponentlevels,willallbeexcitedatthesametime.Thishelpstoidentify
failuresthatcannotbeduplicatedinasinusoidalenvironment.Thisrandomfeatureisfrequentlyreferredto
aswhitenoise.TheprobabilityofagiveninstantaneousaccelerationfollowstheGaussiandistributioncurve.
TypicalwhitenoisecurvesareshowninFigure1.

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Figure1a.WhitenoiseinputcurvewithconstantinputPSD.

Figure1b.Whitenoiseinputcurvewithpositiveandnegativeslopes.

1)InputEnergytotheSystem
Theinputenergytothesystemissimplythesquarerootoftheareaunderthecurvewhichleadsto:

2)NaturalFrequencyofaPrintedCircuitBoard
Thereareavarietyofprintedcircuitboardsmanufacturedintheelectronicindustrytoday.Epoxyglassisthe
mostcommonmaterialwithlaminatedlayersofcopper.Therectangularshapeiseasilyadoptedandfacilitates
plugandplaytroubleshootingandmanufacturing.ThemannerinwhichPCBsaresupporteddeterminetheir
dynamicresponse.Threescenariosarepossible:1)freeedge2)supportededgeand3)fixededge.The
naturalfrequencyofaPWBcanbeapproximatedasaplateproblem.

Figure2.Representationofatypicaltelecomblade.Figure2representsanexampleofatypicaltelecomblade
withthreesidessupportedandonefixed.Anumberofreferences[25]maybefoundoutliningflatplate
relationshipssuchasthatinEquation(2)whichmaybeusedtoestimatenaturalfrequency,fn,ofaflatplate.

whereDistheplatestiffnessfactor
isthedensity
aisthelengthoftheplate

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04/05/2015 VibrationAnalysisForElectronicEquipmentElectronicsCoolingMagazineFocusedonThermalManagement,TIMs,Fans,HeatSinks,CFDSoftw
bisthewidthoftheplate

3)ApproximatingPWBTransmissibility
Ithasbeenshownempiricallythatthetransmissibility,Q,ofaprintedcircuitboardisproportionaltosquareroot
ofthenaturalfrequency:

whereCisaconstantwithavaluetypicallybetween0.5to2dependingonboardsize.Forexampleiffn=200
Hz,Qmaybeapproximatedas

4)ApproximatingSystemResponse
Thesystemresponsemaybeapproximatedusingequation(4)whichestimatestheRMSresponseofthe
masstoabroadbandvibration.

where
PistheinputPSDinunitsofG2/Hzattheresonantfrequency
fnistheresonantfrequency,Hz
Qistransmissibilityattheresonantfrequency
Fortheaboveexample:

5)ApproximatingPCBDeflection
Treatingtheprintedcircuitboardasasingledegreeoffreedomsystem,thedynamicdeflectionatresonance
maybeapproximatedby

Fortheaboveexample:

Onceanapproximationofdeflectionismade,itshouldbecheckedagainstthedesignlimits.Inordertoreduce
deflection,stiffnessoftheboardhastoincrease.Thisisusuallydoneviastiffeners,additionalanchorpoints,
snubbers,andothermechanicalmeans.InordertoreducestressesonPCBsorvariousdevicesonthemthe
generalguidelineistodecouplehardwarebyoneoctave,i.e.,20,40,80,160,andsoon.Forinstance,the
relationshipbetweenthechassistoboardtoaheatsink/bracketshouldfollowtheabovemultiplier.Thishelps
mitigateanypotentialcouplingbetweenvariousconstituentsofthebox.

References
1. www.dtc.army.mil/pdf/810.pdf
2. Steinberg,D.S.,VibrationAnalysisforElectronicEquipment,JohnWileyandSons,NewYork,2000.
3. Sloan,J.L.,DesignandPackagingofElectronicEquipment,VanNostrandReinholdCo.,NewYork,1985.
4. Matisoff,B.S.,HandbookofElectronicsPackagingDesignandEngineering,VanNostrandReinhold,New
York,1990.
5. Young,W.C.andBudynas,R.G.,RoarksFormulasforStressandStrain,McGrawHill,NewYork,2002.

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