MEN is an expert in thermal management of electronics in harsh environments. Our solutions support either forced air cooling combined with tailored heat sinks for the individual boards, or they are designed to build conduction cooled systems. Such boards and devices are designed for harsh environments as in trains, other mobile vehicles, in airplanes, or in critical industrial controls. And even in smoothly conditioned fields of application it becomes essential to save power for the sake of the environment.
Wherever electrical power is generated, there is also power dissipation, which heats up the components. This heat needs to be transferred away from the components to prevent them from overheating. For semiconductors there is a maximum junction temperature, above which the semiconductor ceases to work. It heavily depends on the mechanical and environmental conditions, and also on the field of application, which way is the right way to dissipate excess heat.
Convection cooling is the easiest method to cool board assemblies. It is done by guiding an air flow along the surface to be cooled. While the mechanical set-up is simple, there are some facts that may turn out to be serious drawbacks, depending on the application. With flowing air, impurities and liquids can find their way into the device, and can do damage. Complex filtering equipment can reduce this risk, but on the other hand they create the need for maintenance during the device's lifecycle. Cooling fans are also components that have a limited lifetime, and their failure may lead to a total loss of some electronic components.
Conduction cooling optimizes the thermal contact to conduct the heat from the source to the outer wall of the enclosure. This makes the enclosure itself a heat radiator. Suitable measures must be taken to minimize the thermal transfer resistance from the electronic component to be cooled to the enclosure wall. On the one hand, this is ensured by choosing the right materials. On the other hand, the boards inside the enclosure need to be placed in the right way, and the heat-conducting cooling blocks need to have such masses that optimum heat transport is guaranteed.
More Information
» Thermal considerations for electronic components (PDF)
» Thermal management of COM-based solutions (PDF)
» Conduction cooling solutions for 3U CompactPCI® (PDF)
