Tag Archives: thermal management

Holiday Sale: 25 % Off Qpedia Book Series!

Posted on December 7, 2012 by | Leave a comment

 

coolingZONE is running a holiday promotion on the Qpedia Book Series, discounting 25% off the normal retail value until December 31, 2012. Qpedia Thermal eMagazine is the official media sponsor of coolingZONE. The Qpedia book series provides an expert resource for engineering professionals, professors, students and others who want to learn more about the theories and applications of electronics thermal management.

The four volume set contains nearly 200 in-depth articles, researched and written by veteran engineers. They address the most critical areas of electronics cooling, with a wide spectrum of topics and thorough technical explanation. Each article features color illustrations and images along with important thermal calculations and formulas.

Qpedia Volume 1 topic highlights:

– Heat sink design

– Pool boiling

– Sensors

– Thermal chassis

– Pitot tubes

– Heat transfer

Qpedia Volume 2 topic highlights:

– Thermal grease

– Vapor chamber cooling

– Liquid cooling

– Natural convection cooling

– Phase change materials

Qpedia Volume 3 topic highlights:

– CFD modeling

– PCB optimization

– Jet impingement cooling

– LED cooling

– Cold plates

– Refrigeration systems

Qpedia Volume 4 topics highlights:

– Multilayer mini-channel heat sinks

– Electro-osmotic pumps

– Thermoelectric coolers

– High altitude heat transfer

– Data center cooling

– Defense electronics

– Automotive electronics cooling

Check out the video on Qpedia Volume 4

Over fifteen thermal and mechanical engineers combined their expertise to create the articles in this useful collection, including Kaveh Azar, Ph.D. and Bahman Tavassoli, Ph.D., both of whom are internationally recognized experts in the field of the thermal management of electronics. Qpedia Thermal eMagazine, published by Advanced Thermal Solutions, Inc. (ATS) was launched in 2007 as a technical publication dedicated to the thermal management of electronics.

Filled with careful explanations, step-by-step calculations, and practical examples from real life challenges, this expert collection of articles is a must have for any mechanical, electrical, and thermal engineer or anyone interested in the rapidly growing field of electronics cooling.

Order the Qpedia Book Series with 25% off now at www.coolingzone.com The books can be purchased as a complete set, combination, or individually. Volume discounts for organizations and academic institutions are also available.

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ATS’ maxiFLOW Heat Sinks a Great Match with Altera’s Cyclone V

Posted on November 28, 2012 by | Leave a comment

ATS’ new Heat Sink Selection Tool on www.qats.com allow engineers to match existing ATS heat sinks with specific applications from the top component manufacturers in the market.

Altera’s Cyclone® V FPGAs provide the industry’s lowest system cost and power, along with performance levels that make the device family ideal for differentiating your high-volume applications. You’ll get up to 40 percent lower total power compared with the previous generation, efficient logic integration capabilities, integrated transceiver variants, and SoC FPGA variants with an ARM®-based hard processor system (HPS).

Cyclone V (courtesy of Altera, http://www.altera.com/devices/fpga/cyclone-v-fpgas/cyv-index.jsp)

ATS has over 1,800 heat sinks that meet the specific application requirements of Altera. For example, the Altera Cyclone® V component part number 5CGXFC7D7F27C8NES has 17 cooling solutions, including ATS maxiFLOWTM high performance bga heat sink. maxiFLOWTM unique design provides thermal performance that is 30- 200% better than the conventional heat sinks. By combining maxiFLOWTM heat sinks with the Cyclone® V FPGAs, you can get the power, cost, and performance levels you need for high-volume applications including protocol bridging, motor control drives, broadcast video converter and capture cards, and handheld devices.

maxiFLOW heat sink results from the new Heat Sink Selection Tool

For mounting the heat sink to the pcb, these heat sinks are available with pre-assembled thermal interface materials and with the maxiGRIPTM heat sink attachment. maxiGRIPTM provides a steady, even pressure from the heat sink to the Cyclone® V with easy instillation and removal, eliminating the need to drill holes in the pcb.

Test out the new Heat Sink Selection Tool to view the full list of heat sinks specific to Altera components, along with the full list of component manufacturers that are compatible with ATS cooling solutions.

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The New iFLOW-200 Tests and Measures the Thermal and Hydraulic Performance of Cold Plates

Posted on November 19, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Advanced Thermal Solutions, Inc. (ATS) has released a new thermal test instrument, the iFLOW-200, which assesses the thermal and hydraulic characteristics of cold plates in electronics cooling. It can be used to simulate a wide range of conditions to optimize a cold plate’s performance before it is commercialized or prior to its use in an actual application.

 

The iFLOW-200 measures coolant temperatures from 0-70°C with the high accuracy of ± 1°C. Differential pressure of the coolant in the cold plate is measured up to 103,000 Pa (15 psi), with the precise accuracy of ± 1%. Distilled water is used as the reference coolant. For test comparisons, the systems coolingVIEW software can also calculate thermal resistance and pressure drop as a function of flow rate for selected liquids.

 

The instrument system includes a pair of K-type thermocouples for measuring temperature changes on the cold plate surface. Temperatures are monitored on the coolingVIEW interface.

 

The iFLOW-200 system features easy set up and operation to save time when evaluating different cold plate models. Designed for accuracy and convenience, the iFLOW-200 simply requires setting the starting and ending coolant flow rates, and choosing the dwell time, pumping power and other parameters. These are easily done on any PC using the systemd user-friendly application program.

The iFLOW-200 system features separate controller and hydraulics enclosures with USB connections. The hydraulic package includes a fluid level indicator, coolant inlets and outlets from/to the cold plate under test, ports for surface temperature thermocouples, and a fluid cooling system for its internal heat exchanger. The iFLOW-200 is also ideal for testing alternative liquids.

 

More information about the iFLOW-200 Cold Plate Characterization System can be found at http://www.qats.com/Products/Temperature-and-Velocity-Measurement/Instruments/iFLOW-200

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September Qpedia Thermal eMagazine Released

Posted on November 13, 2012 by | Leave a comment

This Month’s Qpedia Thermal eMagazine has been released! This issue includes the following topics:
Direct-Bond-Copper Aluminum Nitride Microchannel Heat Sink for IGBT Modules

The advancement in semiconductor technology has coerced engineers into looking for more innovative and effective methods to cool semiconductor devices with increasing power density. The continuing efforts towards the shrinking of the Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor (MOSFET) and the Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) gate size have made it impossible for standard electronics packages and pure air-cooled devices to handle the heat load dissipated by some high-power devices, such as high end CPUs, power transistors, DSP chips, etc.
TEC Selection in Thermal Management

With the push towards reducing component size, increasing power dissipation and lowering junction temperature, engineers must utilize different and more effective means for achieving their goals. Thermo electric coolers (TECs) are one such means to achieve their ends. TECs have been on the market for decades and their application in component cooling can be attractive, if they are designed properly or chosen correctly. Even though their COP is much lower than a Carnot cycle efficiency, they can solve some problems if the fundamentals of a TEC are well understood by the engineering team.
Industry Developments: Thermally Conductive PCBs

A wide range of printed circuit board materials are available for electronic assemblies requiring heat management characteristics (high-power devices, RF and wireless, lighting/LED boards, etc.). In widening use are metal-clad PCBs with a standard dielectric, and metal cores of various thicknesses of aluminum and copper. Providers of these PCBs offer tight machining tolerances and high-quality fabrication services for effective thermal management.
Technology Review: High Performance Heat Transfer Devices

Qpedia continues its review of technologies developed for electronics cooling applications. We are presenting selected patents that were awarded to developers around the world to address cooling challenges. After reading the series, you will be more aware of both the historic developments and the latest breakthroughs in both product design and applications.
Cooling News from Around the Industry

Find out why over 18,000 engineers subscribe to Qpedia and Download your free copy at qats.com!

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Benchtop Wind Tunnel Can Produce High Flows of Warm Air for Thermal Testing

Posted on September 13, 2012 by | Leave a comment

The CLWT-115 research quality, closed loop wind tunnel from ATS can generate air flows from ambient to 85°C and a rate of up to 50 m/s (10,000 ft/min) for thermally characterizing PCBs and individual components.

The new CLWT-115 wind tunnel from Advanced Thermal Solutions facilitates thermal management studies of electronic components by providing controllable air flows at controllable air temperatures. These features allow faster evaluation of elevated temperatures on component and PCB response and reliability. The CLWT-115 wind tunnel offers a convenient, accurate system for thermally characterizing PCBs and individual components at controlled temperatures from ambient to 85°C.

The new wind tunnel creates consistent, low turbulence air flows of up to 5 m/s (1000 ft/min). It can be customized to generate flows up to 50 m/s (10,000 ft/min) using optionally available orifice plates. The instrument has a clear Lexan test section lets the user view the test specimen and allows for flow visualization.

Because of its closed loop design, the CLWT-115 recirculates internal air. The system heater can quickly warm the air to a specific temperature. This feature is ideal for testing boards and components in hot air, which is a requirement in some NEBS standards. The CLWT-115 wind tunnel can also be used for testing heat sink performance and for calibrating air and temperature sensors.

The CLWT-115 features a test section that can be open from the top door or sides for mounting and repositioning of boards, components and sensors. Rail guides provide an easy mechanism to install test specimens of different sizes (e.g., PCB, heat sink).
Instrument ports (6) are provided in the side walls of the test section for placing temperature and velocity sensors including thermocouples and hotwire
anemometers.

To learn more about the CLWT-115 benchtop wind tunnel, visit Qats.CLWT-115

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