Thermal Aspects Related to Power Assemblies

In many cases when a power assembly based on power semiconductors is used, catastrophic failure is the result of steep temperature gradient in the localized temperature distribution. Hence, an optimal heatsink design for certain industrial applications has become a real necessity. In this paper, the Pro/ENGINEER software with the thermal simulation integrated tool, Pro/MECHANICA, has been used for thermal study of a specific power semiconductor assembly. A series of steady-state and transient thermal simulations have been performed. The experimental tests have confirmed the simulation results. Therefore, the use of specific 3D modeling and simulation software allows to design special power semiconductor assemblies with a better thermal transfer between its heatsink and power electronic components at given operating conditions.