Thermal Management in Rugged Computer Systems from Electronic Design

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March 23, 2020

Thermal Management in Rugged Computer Systems from Electronic Design

Published in Electronic Design

As rugged computer systems designed for military programs grow more powerful and more complex, keeping these systems cool under harsh conditions becomes more challenging. Customers and suppliers have a variety of cooling techniques they can and do use, including conduction, convection, air flow-through (AFT), liquid flow-through (LFT), and fluid flow-through (FFT).

For many years, conduction cooling has played a major role in the thermal management of rugged systems, but there are limits to how much heat can be dissipated by conduction cooling alone. Most traditional conduction-cooling methods are unable to disperse the heat generated by today’s hotter cards. Where once it was commonplace to have 50-W cards, 120- to 200-W cards are becoming more common.

Conduction Cooling

Conduction cooling is the transfer of heat through solid materials. A common example might be the conduction-cooled chassis-mounted onto a cold plate (Fig. 1). The heat generated inside the chassis by the electronics flows into the chassis aluminum sidewalls and down into the cold plate.

 

Conduction cooling transfers heat from the computer to a cold plate

1. Conduction cooling transfers heat from the computer to a cold plate.

At the board level, a similar mechanism for conduction cooling transfers heat from the components through a conduction frame to the card edge and beyond to the “cold wall” of the chassis.

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Ivan Straznicky

Ivan Straznicky

Technical Fellow

Ivan Straznicky, P.Eng. is CTO Advanced Packaging and a Technical Fellow at Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He received his Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from McGill University and is a Certified Advanced Technology Manager. His responsibilities include the entire scope of advanced packaging technologies for the company’s products. Ivan has over 30 years of experience in the defense and aerospace industry in manufacturing, engineering, technology, and management.

Cooling Techniques

To keep these systems running smoothly and performing as designed, customers and suppliers have a variety of techniques they can and do use, including conduction, convection, Air-Flow-Through (AFT), Liquid-Flow-Through (LFT), and Fluid-Flow-Through (FFT).

Air-Flow-Through (AFT)  
Air-Flow-Through (AFT)
Conduction Cooling  
Conduction Cooling
Convection Cooling  
Convection Cooling
Liquid-Flow-Through Cooling  
Liquid-Flow-Through Cooling
Fluid-Flow-Through Cooling  
Fluid-Flow-Through Cooling

Thermal Management in Rugged Computer Systems

This white paper looks at the different cooling techniques available including conduction, convection, Air-Flow-Through (AFT), Liquid-Flow-Through (LFT), and Fluid-Flow-Through (FFT) and aims to provide clarity on how to choose the best solution.