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Electronic Design Engineers can now for the very first time simultaneously
conduct thermal and electromagnetic analyses - two design issues that
impact on one another - using the latest Flotherm and Flo/EMC v4.1 software
from Flomerics. In addition to
this ground-breaking capability, which will significantly reduce time-to-market
for electronics companies, Flotherm v4.1 incorporates a number of other
important enhancements including automatic sequential optimization, multi-level
nested grids (this alone can reduce software calculation times ten-fold),
and the ability to conduct thermo-mechanical stress calculations in order
to predict reliability directly.
FLOTHERM Version 4.1
Thermal and EMC design in high-speed digital electronics systems has
become a battle of conflicting requirements. Faster switching has lead
to increased electromagnetic (EM) emissions due to the extended bandwidth
of signals. Higher-density components are consuming more power, generating
increased EM fields and more heat. During the design process, design engineers
must ensure that electronic systems meet both thermal and electromagnetic
compliance (EMC) standards. Until now, engineers have been forced to tackle
these issues sequentially. This presents a challenge as thermal and EM
issues are inextricably linked - adding screens, gaskets, etc in order
to improve EM compliance may adversely affect the system's thermal performance,
and vice-versa. Using FLOTHERM and FLO/EMC v4.1, however, it is possible to transfer
information between the two packages in real time, and assess the impact
of design changes immediately. Ian Clark, Flotherm Product Manager, commented,
"This new capability is undoubtedly a major step forward in the physical
design of electronics. This will be very popular with design engineers
as it will help them quickly arrive at an optimized design, rather than
being "bounced around" the design space dealing with thermal
and EMC issues separately". Further accelerating the design cycle is FLOTHERM v4.1's "automatic
sequential optimisation" capability. This new feature allows users
to specify a design aim - for example, to minimize the operating temperature
of a particular component - and then to tell the software which items
surrounding this component can be adjusted to optimize the cooling. The
design is then optimized intelligently by the software using the minimum
number of simulations, thereby saving an enormous amount of manual effort.
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Project Manager:
Enhanched Library Manager providing drag and drop functionality
to the creation and usage of libraries
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Another brand new feature is "multi-level nested grid", which
reduces calculation times by up to ten-fold and - for the first time ever
- allows temperatures inside individual critical components to be calculated
as part of a system-level analysis.
Solver technology:
New C++ Solver, combined with localised gridding setting new industry
standards for robustness and solution time |
In addition to these ground-breaking capabilities, which
will significantly reduce time-to-market for electronics companies,
FLOTHERM v4.1 incorporates a number of other important enhancements
including automatic sequential optimization, multi-level nested grids
(this alone can reduce software calculation times ten-fold), and the
ability to conduct thermo-mechanical stress calculations in order to
predict reliability directly.
The FLO/STRESS module, which calculates thermomechanical stresses within
solid components, has also been updated alongside FLOTHERM v4.1. This
module now allows for the effects of "plastic" deformations
within solids, and is therefore able to identify likely failure sites
within components and joints, as well as the number of cycles to failure
- the most common being solder joint failure and the failure of vias in
the board. Other time-saving features new to FLOTHERM v4.1 include:
- "Drag and drop" library manager that makes the creation
and use of a model library easier than ever before
- Intelligent import of PCB data from EDA software, including locating
matching library models for components and placing them on the board
automatically
- Direct import of "native" geometry from MCAD software such
as Pro/ENGINEER and without loss of model integrity.
Ian Clark, Flotherm Product Manager, Flomerics, concludes, "The
enhancements seen in Flotherm v4.1 provide software simulation techniques
that have never before been possible in the electronics design industry.
The combination of Flotherm and Flo/EMC v4.1 allows engineers to work
coherently with multiple areas of the design process that, until now,
have been viewed as separate entities. This will have a huge impact on
the way design engineers work in the future". Bruce Fryers, Mechanical Design Manager at 3Com UK - a leading supplier
of networking equipment - commented, "Flomerics strategy of linking
its EMC and thermal analysis software makes the use of it much simpler
and therefore open to wider use in electronic design. In my experience
there are many occasions when thermal and EMC design changes impact each
other, therefore anything which makes it easier to solve these inter-related
design problems is good news. At 3Com we are long-term users of Flomerics'
thermal software, Flotherm, and more recent users of the Flo/EMC simulation
tool. We have previewed the new integrated software intensively and we
are very much looking forward to getting our hands on it".
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