PCB Thermal Analysis with Altair

PCB Thermal Analysis

Thermal Management is vital for electronics durability and performance. Electronic components have functional temperature limits, thermal cycling can stress boards and solder joints resulting in fatigue issues and tighter packaging and cost limitations constrain possible countermeasures.  Electronic modules need to dissipate generated heat as well as maintain reasonable operating temperatures based on the hot or cold environment, they are placed in.

The sooner we understand our thermal challenges in the design process the better we can balance, cost performance and packaging. For these reasons Altair offers multiple thermal analysis options available via Altair License Units (https://altair.com/altair-units) . Specifically for Electronics there are two PollEx Thermal Analysis and SimLab Electonics Thermal solution.

PollEx PCB (https://www.trueinsight.io/pollex)

PollEx PCB design verification software provides the ability to run thermal analysis on the PCB at the earliest stages. Thermal analysis is integrated with PollEx so PCB designers can switch between signal integrity, power integrity, EMI vulnerability and ESD protection as well as thermal analysis. Thermal simulation with PollEx.

View this short video introducing PollEx thermal analysis here:

SimLab Electronics Thermal Solutions (https://www.trueinsight.io/simlab)

As the design progresses and we begin packaging our electronics. We can use the tools in SimLab Electronics cooling solutions to run a more detailed thermal study integrating mechanical CAD with ECAD. This can include details such as CFD analysis to calculate convective contributions to heat transfer. SimLab is designed for ease of use and does not require advanced CFD knowledge. In addition SimLab has solutions for drop testing, fatigue and vibration for a complete Electronics validation toolset.

View this short video introducing PollEx thermal analysis here:

If you are a PCB designer working on detailed board layout or a designer tasked with packaging electronic systems Altair has the appropriate thermal analysis tools for your needs.