CFD APPLIED TO ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS - A REVIEW

The application of commercial and noncommercial computational fluid dy namics (CFD) programs to systems relevant to electronics is reviewed, The following commercial programs are discussed: THEBES, FLOTHERM, FLU ENT, FLOTRAN, FIDAP/ICEPAK, CFX 4 (formerly CFDS-FLOW3D), PHOENICS/HOT BOX, and STAR-CD. Notably, of the noncommercial programs, work utilizi ng a spectral element program originating from the Massachusetts Insti tute of Technology (MIT) is described, General thermofluid capabilitie s, user friendliness, and other peripheral aspects, such as the modeli ng of thermal stress/strain and dust transport are assessed. For all c omparisons with measurements, agreement was found to be within 30%, No commercial CFD program appeared to be clearly superior for all applic ations, but FLOTHERM had the most use for realistic cooling design pro blems.