Electronics Cooling

Reference: Cengel, Heat Transfer,

2nd Edition, Chapter 15

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Introduction

All electronic components generate heat

due to I2R (joule heating)
Modern integrated circuits (ICs)
approaching 1010 components/chip
heat fluxes up to 100 W/cm2
Failure rate of electronic devices increases
exponentially with operating temperature
Silicon p-n junctions
Absolute limit of 125C for safe
operation
85C desirable for extended life

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Supporting Electronic Equipment

Chip Carrier
heat flow paths
junction-to-case thermal resistance (Rjc)
Printed Circuit Board (PCB)
Single-sided
Double-sided
Multilayer
Enclosure
sealed
vented

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Common Cooling Methods

Conduction cooling
copper heat frames attached to PCB
copper layers and vias within multilayer
PCBs
Air Cooling with or w/o heat sinks
natural convection & radiation
forced convection with fans
Liquid cooling
direct immersion
indirect (hxer, pump)

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Electronics Cooling Models

Component Model
Semiconductor device
Heat sink, mini-fan, heat pipe, hxer
PCB
Enclosure Model
Chassis assembly
Environment
Air Flow Model
Chassis-mounted fans
Air intakes, exhausts,
Shrouds, ducted flow
System Model
Combines component, enclosure, and air
flow models
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Component Model

Physical system

Thermal circuit

Typical values

Analysis

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Enclosure Model

Physical system

Thermal Circuit

Analysis

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Air Flow Model

Physical system:

Thermal Circuit

Analysis

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System Model

Thermal circuit

Analysis

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Example

Given: Enclosure containing 16 TO-3 style

power transistors, mounted in sets of four, on
four EG&G 435 series heat sinks.
Transistor specs Enclosure specs
Rjc = 7.0 C/W L = 60 cm
Rcs = 0.09 C/W H, W = 20 cm
qc = 10 W t = 3 mm
Tj,max = 125 C k = 0.4 W/m-K
ho = 10 W/m2-K
To = 25 C
o = 0.8
hi 3.9 V / L W/m2 - K
Heat Sink specs
0.9
Rsa C/W (curvefit to data, V in m/s)
1V

Find: Fan flow rate needed to keep Tj below

125C

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