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Figure 1 - The Processor Board
Sequent Computer Systems Inc. is a manufacturer of fault-tolerant computer
equipment where reliability is paramount. Hank Bosak, Project Engineer
at Sequent who designed the cooling system shown here, says:
"Packaging microprocessors exceeding 16 Watts into an air-cooled
platform which was never intended to cool such high power devices outstripped
intuition as well as any other thermal modeling tools previously employed
at Sequent. With no boards or components to perform testing on, the FLOTHERM
models had to be employed to keep the processor board development on schedule
and also to verify if, in fact, the devices could be cooled to appropriate
levels … FLOTHERM provided good correlation with experimental data
(within 12%), and has proved to be a useful and powerful tool which will
be used of future design applications at Sequent."
Figure 2 - FLOTHERM Geometry
The new Pentium processors from Intel dissipate up to 16W of heat each
- almost twice as much as any of their predecessors. Many companies have
developed whole product lines around Intel's microprocessors, and are
now tackling the problem of packaging the new Pentium devices into existing
configurations designed around the previous generation of devices.
Figure 3 - Sequent's Original Design
Figure 4 - Sequent's Revised Design
Intel Corporation has supported Flomerics in the development of the
first validated thermal model for the Pentium processor. The model is
based on Flomerics' software, FLOTHERM, which uses Computational Fluid
Dynamics (CFD) techniques to predict the thermal behavior of the chip
in it's actual design environment including the effects of heat spreaders,
heat sinks, neighboring components and circuit boards. This new thermal
model is precisely what designers need to determine the cooling requirements
for the new system at the earliest possible stage.
Dr. Ram Viswanath, Senior Engineer at Intel in Phoenix, AZ,
states:
"The FLOTHERM models of the Pentium series microprocessors,
being based on a full 3-dimensional solution of the equations which govern
the flow of air around the component as well as the conduction within
it, represent a significant step forward in enabling designers to assess
the thermal requirements for new systems based on the Pentium."
Mostafa Aghazadeh, Engineering Supervisor at Intel,
says:
"The indications are that this represents a major breakthrough
in terms of the tools available to system designers for solving practical
thermal problems. We believe that this is the way forward for electronics
packaging design."
Illustrations courtesy of Sequent Computer Systems Inc.
Pentium is a trademark of Intel Corporation.
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