OPTIMIZATION OF THERMAL LAYOUT DESIGN OF ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENTS ON THE PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD

Abstract

A thermal layout modeling and optimization routine for a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) has been made
in the present work. The thermal model includes the modeling of electronic components based on thermal
resistances and the PCB as a flat plate with multiple heat sources. Isothermal and Isoflux natural
convection heat transfer for horizontal and vertical PCB thermal modeling. The numerical solution
method for the 2-dimensional thermal model is the superposition method for the adiabatic PCB edges. The
optimization meshing model was constructed based on the Complex Method. The numerical Complex
Method has been improved to a new optimization method named as "Dual Complex Method", which
minimize the objective function to give the optimal step sizes in X and Y -directions. The optimization
thermal layout model was constructed to accommodate the numerical SUMT mathematical optimization
method. Optimization results show that in free convection, and for the optimum total heat loss objective
function, the larger dimension of the PCB must be oriented horizontally rather than vertically, and the
electronic components or sub-assemblies of large power should be placed near the top of the PCB. In the
case of horizontal upset-down in natural convection, the components of large power must be placed near
the center of the PCB.