Thermal Management in Power Electronics Special Aspects

Special Aspects on Heat

Generation and Heat Transfer
Martin Maerz

Department of Power Electronics Systems

Schottkystrasse 10, 91058 Erlangen Germany
Tel. (+49) 9131/761-310, Fax -312
peak-seminars@iisb.fraunhofer.de
www.zklm.iisb.fraunhofer.de

Dr. Martin Mrz

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Thermal Management in Power Electronics Special Aspects

Content
Special Aspects on Heat Generation and Heat Transfer

Heat Spreading
Thermal Management on PC Boards (Thermal Vias)
Current Capability of Conductors
Heat Shields and Extractors

Dr. Martin Mrz

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Thermal Management in Power Electronics Special Aspects

How to Improve Thermal Performance?

heatsink
Use max. copper filling in all
available layers (heat spreading) Contact board to a heatsink

heatsink
Typical SMT device Cooling fins can replace non- Use thermal vias wherever
available on-board copper area possible
data sheet conditions
(6cm2 copper)

Rth, ja = 28...40 K/W

Pv,max = 2...4 W Provide a good thermal coupling
to components with high thermal Use an available forced or
conductivity and large surface convective air flow

Dr. Martin Mrz

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Thermal Management in Power Electronics Special Aspects

Heat Spreading

Borderline Cases

Chip Chip

Heat Flux Heat Flux

Ideal Heatsink
Ideal Heatsink

Thermal Barrier (e.g. Iso-foil, TIM)

Dr. Martin Mrz

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Thermal Management in Power Electronics Special Aspects

Heat Spreading
Localized Heat Sources 1. order model of mean cross section
a

Heat Source d th Rth

Rth
d
Rth (1)
Ideal Heatsink th (a + d tan( ) )2
Rule-of-Thumb
40...45 in the case of an unobstructed
heat flow in a structure with approximately
homogeneous thermal conductivity (th)
Dr. Martin Mrz
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 Thermal Management in Power Electronics Special Aspects

Heat Spreading
Power Semiconductor Packages with Heat-slug
(e.g. TO-220/263, TO-247, D-Pak, Power-SO ...) 1.8

Aac 1.6
1.4 TO-220/263
Tj Physical Model
1.2
Rth,jc Measurements

Rth,jc [K/W]
Rth,Chip
Chip 1.0
0.8
Solder Rth,Lot
0.6
0.4
Leadframe Rth,Leadframe 0.2
0.0
0 5 10 15 20 25
Ideal Heatsink Tc Active Chip Area Aac [mm2]
Dr. Martin Mrz
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Thermal Management in Power Electronics Special Aspects

Heat Spreading
D2-Pak (TO-263) on a PCB an example: 35m Cu

Heat Source (1cm2)

dCu
Flotherm Bilder
FR-4 1,5mm
70m Cu
Heatsink

1cm

Identical Power Dissipation and Temperature Scaling !!!

Pictures from Flotherm Simulations Dr. Martin Mrz

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Thermal Management in Power Electronics Special Aspects

Heat Spreading
D2-Pak (TO-263) on a PCB an example:
40
dCu dFR4
35
x 35m 1.5mm
30 70m 1.5mm

Rth,c-hs [K/W]
dCu 35m 200m
25 70m 200m
x
1cm2 dFR4 20

15
Ideal Heatsink
10

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Heat Spreader Length x [mm]

Data from Flotherm Simulations Dr. Martin Mrz

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Thermal Management in Power Electronics Special Aspects

Heat Spreading
D2-Pak on PCB
Minimum Recommended Footprint Increased Footprint (Heat Spreader)

ACu 1 cm2 Only 6mm copper around

minimum footprint
Rthjc 0,3...2 K/W Rthjc 0,3...2 K/W

FR-4 FR-4
1,5mm Rth,c-hs 38 K/W 1,5mm Rth,c-hs 10 K/W

Heatsink Heatsink

Rth,j-hs 40 K/W Rth,j-hs 10...12 K/W

Dr. Martin Mrz

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But what is the maximum useful

heat spreader extension ?
 Thermal Management in Power Electronics Special Aspects

Heat Spreading
Thermal Decay Length
2 Dim. Model dCu
T1
Cu Cu d Cu d iso
Heat Spreader = = Cu d Cu Rth' ,iso (2)
b
iso diso iso
Heat Ths(x)
Source
Rth,L Rth of an Infinite Heat Spreader
Rth,q
1 d iso
Rth , = (3)
Heatsink To
b iso Cu d Cu

T1
Ths(x)
Rth of a Finite Heat Spreader
2L
e
+1
To Rth , L = Rth , 2L
(4)

0 L x e
1
Dr. Martin Mrz
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 Thermal Management in Power Electronics Special Aspects

What is the Maximum Useful Heat Spreader Length ?

Optimum Length
Rth(L)
2,0
Rth, 2 Cu d Cu d iso
Lmax = 2= (5)
+31% iso
+13%
+3,7%
Using this rule-of-thumb, the thermal
1,0 resistance is only 13% worse than that
Leff of an infinite heat spreader.

Effective Length (Leff)

2
0 Leff ( Lmax ) = 0,89 2
3 Lmax (6)
0 1,0 2,0
L
Heat Spreader Length

Dr. Martin Mrz

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Thermal Management in Power Electronics Special Aspects

Heat Spreading
Practical examples
Heat Spreader Heat Path
35 m Cu 1,5 mm FR-4 on iHS 8 mm
70 m Cu 1,5 mm FR-4 on iHS 11 mm
300 m Cu 0,6 mm Al2O3 on iHS 1,7 mm
Ideal Heatsink (iHS) 300 m Cu DCB + Heatsink (0,35 Kcm2/W) 2,0 mm
35 m Cu Air (at both sides) 18...25 mm
1,5 mm FR4 Air (at both sides) 3...4 mm

s = Rth' ,a FR 4 s (7)

Dr. Martin Mrz

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 Thermal Management in Power Electronics Special Aspects

Printed Circuits Board Technologies (PCB)

Modular Technology Kit for Multifunctional Integration

Multi-layer with up to 400m copper in inner

and outer layers for high current applications
Fine pitch on outer layers for an integration of Bildquelle: Wrth AG

signal and power electronics Example

70 m Cu
Blind, burried, filled and closed vias 3x 115 m (PP 2116)
Bildquelle: Cimulec
Thickness of single prepregs down to 200 m Cu
3x 63 m (PP 1080)
50m for multi-ply isolation (redundancy) 200 m Cu
3x 115 m (PP 2116)
Glass transition temperature up to 180C 70 m Cu
and beyond
Partial discharge free up to more than 1kV
Iceberg-Technology

Dr. Martin Mrz

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Thermal Management in Power Electronics Special Aspects

Multifunctional Integration on Printed Circuits Boards

Power Semiconductors Passive Devices

Blind Via Planar Transformer
Magnetic Core Windings
Burried Via

Noise
Current

Integrated Electrical Insulation

Heatsink EMI Shielding Layer

Integrated heat path and electrical isolation from heatsink

Integrated EMI shield and low-noise ground plane
SMT compatible assembly process
Dr. Martin Mrz
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Thermal Management in Power Electronics Special Aspects

750W Drive Inverter in SMD Technology

Photo IR-Thermography (@ full load, 1kVA)

1.4K/W

Total power dissipation in this area: 25W

Chip temperature above heatsink: < 35K
Isolation power semicond. heatsink: PCB internal
Dr. Martin Mrz
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Thermal Management in Power Electronics Special Aspects

Printed Circuits Board Technologies (PCB)

Thermal Via
Thermal resistance of a filled via
s 50

Thermal Resistance [K/W]

35m Cu ll=
=1,5
1,5mm
mm
Di 40 D
Dii== 0,8
0,8mm
mm
Solder
l 30

20
70m Cu

Thermal resistance of an unfilled via 10

0 20 40 60 80 100

l Therm. Conductivity of Filler [W/mK]

Rth,via = (8)
th,Cu s (Di + s)

Dr. Martin Mrz

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 Thermal Management in Power Electronics Special Aspects

Thermal Vias

Single Via
D2-Pak
Rth,via 50 K/W
FR- 4
1.5mm Via Array (e.g. 5x8)
Adhesive

Heatsink
Rth,PCB 1.25 K/W
!
Bildquelle: ANDUS

Dr. Martin Mrz

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 Thermal Management in Power Electronics Special Aspects

Current Capability of PCB Copper Traces (IPC-Data)

40 Approximation formula (Brooks [1])

0K 0, 43 0,68
10 T Acu
I (T , Acu ) = 0,065 (9)
Current Capability [A]

30 75
K K mil 2
K
50 Data according MIL-STD-275E or
IPC-D-275 (external traces)
20 30K
20K
Very old data base (NBS,1955):
10K test conditions, deratings, etc.
T=
10 not fully comprehensible

70m
70m Cu
Cu Original data are a function of
copper cross section. Height and
width are equivalent - a physical
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 nonsense!
Copper Trace Width wcu [mm]
Dr. Martin Mrz
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Thermal Management in Power Electronics Special Aspects

Physical Model for the Current Capability of Conductors

Thermal Resistance Conductor - Substrate:
T Rth'
I Rth = = (10)
Pth w z
d z Power Dissipation in the Conductor:
w cu
Pel = I 2 R = I 2 z (11)
Hea wd
ts ink
!
Stationary: Pel = Pth (12)

Current Capability of a Conductor:

Increasing the conductor width
d T
is more effective than I=w (13)
increasing the thickness ! cu (T ) Rth'

Dr. Martin Mrz

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Thermal Management in Power Electronics Special Aspects

Current Capability of Conductors

when thermally coupled to a heatsink
80

0K
I

K
10
Current Capability [A]

75
K
50
d z 60 K
30
K
w 20
Hea s K
ts ink 40 =10
T

Example
20
Ideal heatsink 105
105m
m Cu
Cu
Copper thickness: d = 105 m 1.0
1.0mm
mm FR4
FR4
Insulator: FR4 with s = 1,0 mm
0
2
s Kcm 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Rth' = = 30 (14)
th , FR 4 W Conductor Width wcu [mm]

Dr. Martin Mrz

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Thermal Management in Power Electronics Special Aspects

Physical Model for Copper Traces on PCB

Effective Trace Width (Heat Spreading): 30
weff = w + 2 2 3 2 Rtha
'
FR 4 s (15) Mz-Model
Mz-Model 0K
IPC-Data 10

Current Capability [A]

IPC-Data K
75
Electrical Resistance of Copper : K
50
20
T
cu = 1,7 10 8 m 1 + 3,9 10 3 (16) 30K
weff w K 20K
See Diagram in Slide Convection: 0K
T=1
= 400 Kcm 10
' 2
Rtha W (17)

FR-4 35m
35m Cu
Cu
Current Capability of a Trace
s 0
2 weff w d cu T 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
I= (18)
Copper Trace Width wcu [mm]
cu (T ) R '
tha

Dr. Martin Mrz

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 Thermal Management in Power Electronics Special Aspects

Anisotropic Thermal Conductivity

How to Combine Heat Extractor and Effective Thermal Conductivity - lateral
Thermal Shielding Functionality ? d HC d
eff ,|| = HC + LC 1 HC (19)
d d
Temperature Sensitive Elements Eff. Thermal Conductivity - perpendicular
(e.g. foil capacitors) LC
eff , = (20)
Heatsink

LC d HC LC
eff,|| 1 1
eff,

d
HC dHC d HC
Heat Source Max. Achievable Anisotropy
(e.g. chips, magnetic core) eff ,||
= 1 LC + HC + 2 (21)
eff ,
Thermally low conductive material max 4 HC LC
Thermally high conductive material
The maximum allways occurs at d HC = 0.5 d !
Dr. Martin Mrz
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Thermal Management in Power Electronics Special Aspects

Anisotropic Thermal Conductivity

Realization via Sandwich-Structures
Example:
FR4 Copper Sandwich (Multilayer-PCB)

400 400

Eff. Thermal Conductivity

5,4g/cm3
eff ,||

Thermal Anisotropy
300 300
eff,

eff,|| d eff , eff ,

[W/mK]
200 200
eff ,||
d HC = d HC ,i 100 100

0 0
0 0,2 0,4 dHC 0,8 1

Dr. Martin Mrz

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Thermal Management in Power Electronics Special Aspects

Anisotropic Thermal Conductivity

Realization with Natural Graphite
Thermal conductivity in plane: 370...500 W/mK
Thermal conductivity normal to plane: 6,5 W/mK
Thermal anisotropy: 57...70
Specific weight: 1,94 g/cm3

Picture: graftech.com Dr. Martin Mrz

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Thermal Management in Power Electronics Special Aspects

Heat Extraction and Shielding an application example

Electrical Drive Unit for Hybrid Traction (1. Gen.)

Coolant (115C)
Electronics
Power

Heat Shield

Motor Windings (200C)

Motor-integrated
90 kVA Inverter
Source: [8] Dr. Martin Mrz
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Thermal Management in Power Electronics Special Aspects

Heat Extraction and Shielding an application example

Electrical Drive Unit for Hybrid Traction (ECPE-Demonstrator)
max. 150C The thermally low-conductive
material in an artificial anisotropic
structure can also be air !
Housing of Combustion Engine

DC-Link
Capacitor Power Module

Gear Box Housing

Coolant

50kW / 220Nm
E-drive with integrated
max. 115C inverter
Source: [9] Dr. Martin Mrz
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Thermal Management in Power Electronics Special Aspects

The Most Effective Thermal Management

Measure is the Avoidance of Power Losses !!!
Money spent on better components is mostly payed-back by:
less expensive thermal management measures
(materials, heatsinks, fans, etc)
improved system reliability
less energy and operating costs

Dr. Martin Mrz

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Thermal Management in Power Electronics Special Aspects

Literature
[1] Brooks D.: Temperature Rise in PCB Traces, Proceedings PCB Design Conference, West (1998)
[2] Friar M. E., et al.: Printed Circuits and High Currents, Design News, Vol. 23, 1968, S. 102-107
[3] Blazej, D.: Thermal Interface Materials, Electronics Cooling, Vol. 9, No. 4, 2003, S. 14-20
[4] ANSI / IPC-D-275, Design Standard for Rigid Printed Boards and Rigid Printed Board
Assemblies, IPC (1991)
[5] VDI-Wrmeatlas, Berechnungsbltter fr den Wrmebergang, VDI-Verlag (1988)
[6] Coombs: Printed Circuits Handbook, McGraw-Hill
[7] Mller, Erhardt: Freie Konvektion und Wrmebertragung, ISBN 3-7880-7654-2
[8] Tadros Y., Ranneberg J., Schfer U.: Ring Shaped Motor-Integrated Electric Drive for Hybrid
Electric Vehicles. Proceedings EPE03 Conference, Toulouse, 2003
[9] Mrz M., Poech M. H., Schimanek E., Schletz A.: Mechatronic Integration into the Hybrid
Powertrain The Thermal Challenge. Proceedings of International Conference on Automotive
Power Electronics (APE) 2006, Paris, 21-22. Juni 2006

Dr. Martin Mrz

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