EMC & Thermal Management


What is the Achilles Heel of your Engineering Design?


Many engineers find that once their design is complete it doesn’t perform as desired even though they have made every effort to ensure compliance. Often excess heat is emitted from electrical components or systems which can affect the operation of other elements. This causes problems detrimentally such as shortening of lifetime. Performance issues where optimum temperature is key are common and this can lead to redesign, change of package geometry and extension of project delivery timescales.


Common pain points • Anticipation of thermal management as part of the engineering design - when addressed earlier, passive and more cost effective thermal management is possible.


• Environment that the design should work in - hazardous, humid and below zero centigrade conditions need special consideration.


• Electrical budget - power required to include thermal management is often not considered.


• Airflow paths and heat dissipation routes - anticipation of where unwanted heat can safely go.


Start with the design a. Build thermal management in at an early design stage, before integrating with other components/ systems.


b. Consider and optimise weak links in the thermal path. Often any issues can be addressed early on by bearing this in mind, for example, critical components can be positioned differently and materials used for housing of electronics can be sourced for their thermal properties or a vent/ heat sink can be designed in.


Bridging the engineering skills gap Sometimes it is simply not possible to build in thermal management at an early stage either because of lack of knowhow in-house or because of other design priorities.


European Thermodynamics have a specialist engineering service to tackle challenging product design needs, make product selection recommendations and have a portfolio of thermal management products available to buy direct or online through distributors.


www.cieonline.co.uk Figure: Thermal analysis and thermal management of an LED product assembly.


European Thermodynamics’ team of mechanical, electrical/ electronic, software and specialist thermal engineers firstly look at the design and its constraints. They then analyse heat loss and stress. Working with the client they then propose a design and simulate and


Level/type Thermal management product


1. Passive 2. Active


Thermal interface materials, heat sinks and heat pipes.


Fan assisted, liquid cooled


3. Controlled Thermoelectric (Peltier) 3. active


effect Table: Components types in a thermal system


evaluate. When ready for production a prototype will be made, then subjected to real world environmental conditions. Final designs are ready for full mass production where required.


Established in 2001, European Thermodynamics works with many leaders in industry in various sectors to optimise design performance.


What’s new in thermal management Effectively removing heat is key to avoiding hot spots and improving reliability of components.


Disruptive materials technology R&D activities put European Thermodynamics as leaders in this field with strong ties to industry and academia.


Phase change materials (PCM) are the latest development in thermal interface materials. These are applied to surfaces such as ball grid array printed circuit boards.


Once they change phase following a change in temperature, they flow and conform to the interfacing surface removing air pockets and allowing controlled thermal transfer.


Thermal management systems design often involves a combination of maximising thermal conductiviy and


minimising thermal resistance. By removing air pockets this is a fundamental step in reducing thermal resistance within the systerm.


Summary a. Never leave thermal management as the last consideration. As ever more electronics are used in engineering design, smaller and smaller spaces mean higher heat fluxes. It is a vital consideration in mechanical and electronic designs.


b. Thermal interface is key. When moving heat through a system, thermal resistance should be minimised and thermal conductivity maximised. Air pockets are a thermal insulator therefore within a system they should be minimised.


c. Heat sinks can be optimised to effectively dissipate heat into the environment, either, ideally, through liquid or, where not possible, air.


www.europeanthermodynamics.com Components in Electronics


June 2019 13


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