Although phase change materials (PCM) were introduced nearly twenty years ago, it was not until the development of the high-powered Pentium processor that this class of interface material gained widespread acceptance. The large quantities of heat produced by these processors necessitated a carefully designed thermal path where all of the thermal resistances were minimized. For … [Read more...]
Thermal Design Challenges in Automotive Alternator Power Electronics
Ever since the advent of the automotive alternator, or claw-pole alternating current generator, in the 1960's, there has been an ever-increasing thermal design challenge to cool the power electronics in these machines. Figure 1 depicts a typical cutaway section of a modern day alternator. At first glance one may think that cooling the diodes in a rectifier bridge of an … [Read more...]
Estimating Temperatures in a Water-to-Air Hybrid Cooling System
As most readers are no doubt aware, the trend towards ever increasing processor module power is making it more and more difficult to cool directly with air. Many thermal engineers are convinced that water cooling may be the answer. This does not necessarily mean that cooling water must be supplied by the customer. Instead, in some instances it may be possible to use a … [Read more...]
The Thermal Conductivity of Thermal Insulators
This issue, we present an overview of a number of materials that are often used as thermal insulators. The world would have been much easier for thermal engineers if only the creator had provided us with a choice of materials showing the same range in thermal conductivity values as exists for electrical conductivity. Alas, this isn't the case. Thus, not a single one of the … [Read more...]
Dynamic Temperature Measurements: Tools Providing a Look into Package and Mount Structures
Today it is commonly accepted that dynamic thermal measurements, which have been used for more than 20 years [1], [2], [3], [4], are superior to steady-state ones. The temperature vs. time function - often called the thermal step-response function, heating curve, or thermal impedance curve - is characteristic of the chip-to-ambient structure, including even different cooling … [Read more...]
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