Flomerics’ Thermal Simulation Speeds Heatsink Design

By DE Editors

Crane Aerospace used Flotherm thermal simulation software to develop an unusual avionics heatsink that works in the vertical or horizontal orientation.

Flomerics Inc.’s (Marlborough, MA) Flotherm thermal simulation software was used by Crane Aerospace & Electronics to develop an unusual heatsink that works in the vertical or horizontal orientation. The heatsink is for a DC power subsystem for a commercial airliner.

Developing an entirely new heatsink geometry that would have met the performance requirements would have taken an enormous amount of time using conventional build and test methods. Instead Crane Mechanical Engineer Mark Resler simulated a range of different heatsink configurations using thermal simulation software. He determined that an unusual design with a plate and standoffs provided the best performance.

Normally,  this type of system would use fin-type heatsinks on the exterior sidewalls of the enclosure. But in this case the default design would work only in the horizontal or vertical orientation but not in both. Resler brainstormed with other Crane engineers and developed six different alternative heatsink configurations. … Resler ran the simulation results twice for each design, in the horizontal and vertical orientations.

After the simulation results showed that the plate and standoff design provided the best overall performance for both horizontal and vertical mounting, Resler then performed a trade study that involved simulating the performance of the plate and standoff design while varying the length of the standoff.

For more information, visit Flomerics.

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