Category Archives: Thermal Design

Direct Cooling of Power Modules by Using Micro-Channel Structures: an ATS Labs “how to” article

Power modules, those devices that integrate together power semiconductors, power switches and other components in one tidy package, are really power systems or power blocks. Mostly convenient, they can be integrated into a design efficiently.

But what happens when all that power, even in small amounts, is aggregated together? You get a lot of heat in a package and when electronics get hot, you really need to cool them so they work best. ATS has a terrific “how to” article on doing just that using Micro-Channel Structures.

Regular readers of our blog here at Advanced Thermal Solutions know we’ve covered microchannels and cooling a bit before. On March 10, we posted on “Understanding How Fluid Boils in Tiny Microchannels Gives Engineers another Tool to Cool High Power Electronics” and then published an article entitled, “The Thermal Performance of Microchannel and Macrochannel Cold Plates“.

Our “how to” article today though covers the cooling of power modules. We invite you to have a look by clicking to our article, “Direct Cooling of Power Modules by Using Micro-Channel Structures“.

Using the Stirling Cycle for Cooling & Power Generation – A “how to” White Paper from ATS Thermal Labs

The Stirling Cycle is a thermodynamic cycle that describes the general class of Stirling devices. This includes the original Stirling Engine (1). As component power density has increased over the years a natural progression has been occurring in electronics cooling. First generation electronic components required little to no external cooling; heat dissipation into a PCB was often sufficient. After this came the development of passive heat sinks which used increased surface area to dissipate heat via natural convection and radiation.

A shift in the basic electronics cooling methods has been sought. This would be a method that not only transports heat but also converts it into a more easily controlled form of energy. Mechanical motion is such energy and this can be generated using the Stirling Cycle. To learn more, please visit our free article, “Using the Stirling Cycle for Cooling & Power Generation“

Selecting and Implementing Liquid Cooling within Electronic Systems – ATS On-Demand Webinar

As many of our readers know, ATS features Live Broadcast Webinars throughout the year on various topics around thermal management and design. What many of you may not know is that we archive these for on-demand viewing. Topics include heat sinks, thermal interface materials, and liquid cooling.

The use of liquid cooling systems is becoming more practical and effective for managing skyrocketing increases in power dissipation. But how do you decide when you need to cool with liquid? How do you find the right liquid cooling system for your application? Our on-demand webinar provides the best practices for implementing a liquid cooling system at the device level. You may reach it by clicking to it at this link: Selecting and Implementing Liquid Cooling within Electronic Systems

How to Perform & Understand Air Velocity Measurement within Electronics Systems; Thu. March 25, 2010 2PM EDT

Just a reminder, ATS will be holding their next Webinar, “How to Perform & Understand Air Velocity Measurement within Electronics Systems” on Thursday March 25, 2010 2PM EDT.  Please click here to register

It’s FREE and it’s taught by Dr. Kaveh Azar so you know you will learn alot!

Heat Sink Modeling using Compact Models: A “how to” article from ATS Thermal Labs

The methodology for compact thermal modeling of electrical components is described in the JEDEC standard, JESD15-1.  A detailed model of both component and heat sink can be used for single component level analyses. Board and system level analyses require compact components to represent the thermal behavior of a component and to limit the amount of grid cells and related computer power. Our article discusses the methodology of compact heat sink modeling. We provide some modeling background then compare detailed, substitute and compact modeling. Please read the entire article at, “An Approach for Compact Heat Sink Modeling“