A Numerical Model to Predict the Thermal and Psychrometric Response of Electronic Packages

Abstract

This paper introduces a general computational model for electronic packages, e.g., cabinets that contain electronic equipment. A simplified physical model, which combines principles of classical thermodynamics and heat transfer, is developed and the resulting three-dimensional differential equations are discretized in space using a three-dimensional cell centered finite volume scheme. Therefore, the combination of the proposed simplified physical model with the adopted finite volume scheme for the numerical discretization of the differential equations is called a volume element model (VEM). A typical cabinet was built in the laboratory, and two different experimental conditions were tested, measuring the temperatures at forty-six internal points. The proposed model was utilized to simulate numerically the behavior of the cabinet operating under the same experimental conditions. Mesh refinements were conducted to ensure the convergence of the numerical results. The converged mesh was relatively coarse (504 cells), therefore the solutions were obtained with low computational time. The model temperature results were directly compared to the steady-state experimental measurements of the forty-six internal points, with good quantitative and qualitative agreement. Since accuracy and low computational time are combined, the model is shown to be efficient and could be used as a tool for simulation, design, and optimization of electronic packages.