CST Studio – When is hot a bit too hot?

When designing a power supply there are several criteria that need to be fulfilled. One of them is of course to keep moving the heat away from the PCB. Modern IC’s often have thermal protections which may interfere with the functionality of your design (if they are not cooled properly).  

A couple of questions that often pop up are, do we need a fan or not? Is it necessary with a heatsink? There is no clear answer to that unless you simulate your design in CST Studio. 

For the simulation to work you need all the necessary components represented in 3D. Next step is defining materials and how well they transfer heat.  

To keep the temperature down we need a fan. In this case it’s a basic axial model pushing air from one end to the other. We configure the flow rate of the fan to around 29 mᶟ air / h.  

The big MOSFET transistors are the heat source in this design, and they are located below the heatsinks. In CST Studio you define the surfaces that are of interest to you. The heat is travelling through the heatsink as shown in the picture below.  

As soon as the simulation has been completed, we can review the result and see exactly how the air will flow, keeping the PCB at a low and safe temperature. 

Have you ever wondered how to optimize the cooling for your product? The answer is simulation! If you would like to know more about CST Studio don’t hesitate to contact Zellaco.