Thermal Design Optimization of the Printed Circuit Board through Area Reduction

Abstract

The dimensions of an electronic control unit are extremely important in the developing of any new product design. It is well known that a large area of the printed circuit board (PCB) increases thermal performance. For any developed product, when the PCB area is enlarged, the volume, the mass, and the surroundings also increase. This article presents how the shape is more important than the area and the way in which the area of the PCB can be reduced but still has similar or even better thermal performance. An response surface methodology (RSM) of the design of experiments (DOE) quality tool from optimization phase of design for six sigma concept was developed using MINITAB statistical software. The results for each DOE combination of length and width were simulated as a parametric run by the ICEPAK version 19.1 commercial software, which is based on the finite volume method. Numerical analyzes check the obtained transfer function for other dimensions than those analyzed in response surface DOE and it is extrapolated for different areas. With the obtained and numerically checked RSM transfer function, it is recognized a significantly better thermal performance for the same area of the PCB, but with a smaller dimension in the airflow direction.