Flomerics’ FLO/PCB V 4.1 for System Level Models

By DE Editors

September 6, 2007—Flomerics Inc. (Marlborough, MA) has released Version 4.1 of its FLO/PCB thermal design software (http://www.flopcb.com) with new features including the ability to model potting compounds, probe temperature values interactively, provide user-defined temperature ranges and search component libraries.

FLO/PCB makes it possible to perform board-level thermal simulation very early in the design process. This analysis can help highlight potential thermal issues and provide engineers with more flexibility in resolving them before hundreds of hours of engineering time is invested in unusable designs.

Version 4.1 of FLO/PCB includes a new SmartPart object used to represent epoxy type solid cured potting compounds. It can be placed over all or part of either side of the PCB. Multiple (non-overlapping) potting compound regions can be defined. Any material in the resins material library supplied with the software can also be used or the user can define the properties using the potting compound material property sheet.

The new version lets the cursor move over a temperature plot in the results visualization mode and report the point temperature. FLO/PCB Version 4.1 can maintain bidirectional connectivity with Version 7.1 of Flotherm, Flomerics’ system-level thermal modeling tool, which means the same PCB design that is used to create a FLO/PCB model can also be incorporated into a system-level model in Flotherm.

The results from the systems level analysis can be exported directly to the board-level simulation, enabling the board designer to apply the air flow and temperatures from the system-level simulation to the board being designed. This approach keeps team members in sync and lets them to contribute to concept development in real time.

For details, go to Flomerics.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.