Abstract :
The application of commercial and noncommercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) programs to systems relevant to electronics is reviewed. The following commercial programs are discussed: THEBES, FLOTHERM, FLUENT, FLOTRAN, FIDAP/ICEPAK, CFX 4 (formerly CFDS-FLOW3D), PHOENICS/HOTBOX, and STAR-CD. Notably, of the noncommercial programs, work utilizing a spectral element program originating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is described. General thermofluid capabilities, user friendliness, and other peripheral aspects, such as the modeling of thermal stress/strain and dust transport are assessed. For all comparisons with measurements, agreement was found to be within 30%. No commercial CFD program appeared to be clearly superior for all applications, but FLOTHERM had the most use for realistic cooling design problems
Keywords :
cooling; dust; flow simulation; fluid dynamics; reviews; CFD; CFDS-FLOW3D; CFX 4; FIDAP/ICEPAK; FLOTHERM; FLOTRAN; FLUENT; PHOENICS/HOTBOX; STAR-CD; THEBES; computational fluid dynamics; cooling design; dust transport; electronic system; review; spectral element program; thermal strain; thermal stress; thermofluid; Capacitive sensors; Computational fluid dynamics; Consumer electronics; Electronics cooling; Heat transfer; Pollution measurement; Power generation economics; Temperature sensors; Thermal conductivity; Thermal stresses;
Journal_Title :
Components, Packaging, and Manufacturing Technology, Part A, IEEE Transactions on