Considerations on the Importance of Proper Modeling of Heat Transfer Coefficient Values

M. Janicki (Lodz Univ. of Techn., Poland)

This paper discusses the problem of modeling the heat transfer coefficient values in electronic circuits cooled by the natural convection. Circuit temperature is computed for an electronic circuit containing a heat source dissipating different amounts of power and located in various locations of circuit layout. All thermal simulations are caried out using an analytical Green’s function solver. The results are compared and analyzed for cases when the value of heat transfer coefficient is constant and when it depends on circuit surface and the ambient temperature values. The main conclusion of the paper is that simulated circuit temperature values are much lower if the variable value of the heat transfer coefficient is used.