2017 Technical Program On Demand

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Dennis Downs

Liquid Cooling Quick Disconnects: Design Specs that Contribute to Cost-efficient and Reliable Thermal Management

Overview: Dennis Downs, liquid cooling of electronics expert at CPC, reviews the must-have features of Liquid Cooling Quick Disconnect Couplers in meeting the fluid handling requirements of thermal management systems. Using three actual customer examples, Dennis highlights connection design challenges and how to ensure reliability, safety, and effective safe cooling in heat removal.

Speaker: Dennis Downs

Villanova University | ES2
Rehan Khalid

Transient & Steady-State Thermodynamic Modeling of Modular Data Centers

Overview: The data center industry focuses on initiatives to reduce its enormous energy consumption and to minimize its adverse environmental impact. Modular data centers provide considerable operational flexibility in that they (1) are mobile and (2) are manufactured using standard containers.

This study develops steady-state energy and exergy destruction models for modular data centers with the open-source EnergyPlus (EP) software package. Three different cooling approaches are examined: direct expansion cooling, direct evaporative cooling, and free air cooling (air-side economization).

This work shows that for hot and arid climates like those in the southwestern United States, augmenting direct expansion (DX) cooling with evaporative and free-air cooling can result in energy savings of up to 38% and 36% respectively. This study also applies exergy analysis to suggest that the Energy Reuse Effectiveness (ERE) of a data center increases with decreasing ambient (outdoor) temperature and increasing server inlet-outlet temperature difference. Furthermore, simulations indicate that the use of passive cooling techniques (e.g., direct evaporative cooling and free air cooling) decrease data center heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) energy consumption, except in extremely hot and humid climates.

Lastly, a transient analysis is developed to answer the question of whether cooling demand needs to be revamped instantly if server demand is raised. The analysis shows that there is very little energy saving to be gained if cooling is ramped-up slowly when demand is instantly raised. Hence, the choice as to whether to ramp-up cooling instantly or slowly is up to the data center operator, without any significant energy and monetary savings.

Speaker: Rehan Khalid

Aavid
Nelson Gernert

Rapid Heat Sink Thermal Analysis and Design Utilizing Heat Pipes

Overview: Adding heat pipes to a heat sink is a cost efficient way to improve heat sink performance without increasing the volume or weight of your solution, but typically requires time consuming simulation or testing to validate the design. This session covers how to quickly compare multiple heat sink technologies and their thermal performances with embedded heat pipes utilizing a new rapid design tool, Aavid Genie, that helps shorten design cycles. It will also compare the Genie’s design against another company’s simulation products and validate it with actual test results.

Speaker: Nelson J. Gernert, V.P. Engineering and Technology at Aavid Thermacore, Inc.

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Detailed PCB Thermal Modeling with Thermal Territories

Overview: Accurately modeling detailed PCB traces in a system level thermal analysis is challenging. Historically the process involved the manual conversion of 2D drawings to 3D MCAD geometry. More recently thermal analysis tools have been able to convert PCB layout files directly to explicit thermal models but generally lack the ability to control the models resolution of detail. The ability to resolve a PCB layout file directly greatly reduces the model development time but modeling an entire PCB with explicit traces is computationally inefficient for most system level thermal design scenarios. The current best approach balances thermal model accuracy with computational expense through the concept of Thermal Territories.

A brief overview of the methods of capturing PCB copper distribution is discussed including the advantages and disadvantages of each process. Examples of the thermal predictions based upon these methods will be shown. The concept of Thermal Territories will be introduced and examples shown that compare the relative accuracy gain when explicitly capturing the copper distribution from the heat source outwards.

Speaker: John Wilson, Electronics Product Specialist at Mentor Graphics

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Alex Guichard

Thermal Design and Integration Considerations for Thermoelectric Devices in Cooled Optoelectronic Packages

Overview: The optical communications industry continues to increase data communication rates and bandwidth at an impressive rate. This progress drives increasing power densities and heat generation at both the transceiver level as well as the light source. This presentation will provide insight into the thermal challenges facing optoelectronic component designers and cover how thermoelectric devices can be optimally implemented to meet those challenges.

Speaker: Alex Guichard, Senior Product Manager of Optoelectronics Cooling Products at Phononic

Bruce Guenin

KEYNOTE: The Internet of Things — A Personal Perspective

Overview: It is commonly acknowledged that the term Internet of Things (IoT) was created in reference to the introduction of RFID tags in 1999. They represented the first wave of autonomous sensors that enabled computers to observe, identify and understand the world—without the limitations of human-entered data. Since then, the types and numbers of sensors providing this function have increased exponentially. Also, through the use of big data analyses and machine learning, computers are able to analyze inputs of large numbers of sensors and can make rapid decisions based on the input data. We are seeing increasing use of this capability in manufacturing, farming, traffic control, healthcare, and the list goes on and on. We have also witnessed computer networks being hacked and huge amounts of data stolen and misused.

Where is all this heading? This presentation will describe current technical approaches for managing inputs from a large number of sensors and possible options for the future as the number of sensors is expected to increase by many orders of magnitude. It will also address the bigger picture and speculate on what the future may hold for us, in terms of both benefits and risks.

Speaker: Dr. Bruce Guenin, Former Principal Hardware Engineer at Oracle

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Product Demo

Design Highlights of Lightweight, High Fin Density Heat Sinks for LED Products

Overview: This brief review will focus on the design features and manufacturing techniques and processes used to produce the latest generation of high performance heat sinks from low power (8W) forged heat sinks to high power (600W) heat-pipe heat sinks for industrial lighting applications.

Speaker: Craig Hoffman

Wakefield-Vette

Utilizing Vapor Chambers: A practical guide to design

Overview: Many thermal systems benefit from the addition of vapor chambers, especially when heat sources are dense and the final heat exchanger is much larger and the heat from the source must be spread to a larger area. Computer applications, such as processors, graphics cards and other chip-sets, have high thermally dissipated power in a small area. Fan heat sink combinations used in these applications can offer high-performance dissipation to the ambient, but much of the battle is to spread the heat to the heat exchanger with as little temperature change as possible. Vapor chambers excel at this and can transport large heat loads from small areas with very little temperature difference. When considering the use of a vapor chamber in your application, it is important to consider the orientation with respect to gravity and overall heat load for the thermal system. In many applications, the decision to use a vapor chamber is frequently compared to a thermal solution using heat pipes. In this seminar, Wakefield-Vette will outline the basics of vapor chamber operation, construction and key application qualities that will be used to compare vapor chamber and heat pipe design decisions.

Speakers: Mark Pelillo and Chris Caylor

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Product Demo

Space-Proven Carbon Fiber Thermal Management Solutions Unleash High-Performance Device Performance

Overview: For today’s high performance compact devices, selecting the right thermal interface material can be the difference maker for a successful product. KULR Technology presents its carbon fiber thermal interface material (FTI) for applications that requires low contact pressure, wide gap tolerance and high thermal conductivity.

Speaker: Michael G. Carpenter, VP of Engineering

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Christian Miraglia

In-depth Understating of Compression Characteristics of Thermal Interface Gap Fillers Materials

Overview: Using thermal gap fillers in a thermal solution is often more about managing stress in assemblies than about transferring heat. This webinar will provide the audience with a better understand of stresses and forces in an assembly, how to identify different regions on the compression curve, and understand the risk involved with operating in the given regions. We will also cover other characteristics such as plasticity and elasticity in gap fillers and how they impact stress.

Speaker: Christian Miraglia, Applications Engineering Manager