LTX Corporation case study

Problem

LTX needed a new concept to rapidly cool their complex specialty printed circuit board. Electrical engineers at LTX had completed the board layout; long-lead time chips were designed and fabricated and a delivery date approaching soon. DBA's solution had to work around the existing chip scheme. The heat generated was too significant to be removed by convection. Water channels could move heat quickly and efficiently by conduction. But how well would this new system perform?

Solution

To start, DBA calculated the total heat that would be generated by the electronic circuit board. Combining the results of a conjugate heat transfer analysis using Blue Ridge Numerics' software, CF Design, with PTC's Pro/ENGINEER, DBA modeled the entire electronic circuit board with chips and water channel.

Results

DBA established the proper flow parameters, the physical shape and the path of the water channel, while leaving the existing circuit layout intact. DBA's analysis showed that its heat reduction scheme would enable the electronic board to operate within the desired temperature range, thus insuring both the performance and reliability of the system.

Multi-fluid, conjugate heat transfer analysis used to verify LTX design of electronic circuit board cooling concept

"Design By Analysis, Inc. provided us with the results we required to proceed to manufacture our newest product. Our design team was full out, trying to meet the aggressive new product development schedule put out by management. While we had the in-house expertise, it was a matter of manpower resources, too much work, and too few people. It made sense to use outside resources. We were so pleased with DBA that we engaged them to perform this involved, complicated analysis. Their expertise was invaluable in briefing our management on the merits of our new patented design approach to cooling."

-- Andy Roemer, Sr. Design Engineer