Project Description

PCB COOLING ANALYSIS

INDUSTRY : Consumer goods

EXPERTISES :

THE PROJECT

The goal of this project was to scan the printed circuit board in order to perform a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis. The PCB was actively cooled; however, the thermal dissipation was not optimal as recurrent problems were reported, including premature aging of components and intermittent breakdowns.

The scanning was achieved with Creaform’s Go!SCAN20 and the reverse engineering was performed with CATIA. The model was exported and the cooling flow through the housing was simulated using a conjugate heat transfer approach. It was found that important zones of stagnant air around specific capacitors would induce high temperatures outside the temperature operating range of key components.

Services provided

  • 3D scanning using the Go!SCAN20
  • Powder application in order to capture details during scan
  • Reverse engineering of the PCB
  • Geometry preparation using CAD software for CFD analysis
  • Wrapping of components
  • Boundary conditions specification using PCB specs
  • Setting of physical models and numerical parameters
  • Test case for parameters validation and mesh independency
  • Simulation monitoring
  • Volumetric meshing using polyhedral cells and prisms layer
  • Post-processing: visualisations of temperature and flow distribution
  • Recommendations for flow improvements
  • Results presentation to the end customer and production of all methodology and substantiation reports

GALLERY

TOOLS AND METHODS USED

Based on the client’s needs, Creaform used the following tools and methods:

  • Go!SCAN 20 scanner
  • VXmodel scan-to-CAD software module
  • CATIA
  • CarCCM+