Mentor Blogs

It’s been over two years since the foundations went in for the extension we’re building on our house. In that time I’ve come to respect and somewhat rely on glib phrases such as “Good things come to those who wait” and “Patience is a virtue”. I told my better half we’d be moved in by Christmas, I didn’t say which one though. In this blog series of … Read More

FloVENT, Electronics Cooling, HVAC, underfloor heating

Thermal simulation of electronic systems using FloTHERM usually involve the definition of the 3D geometry and relevant material properties, specification of the power dissipation of the components as well as the ambient temperature that together lead to a numerical prediction of the resulting heat fluxes and temperatures. If the predicted component temperatures are too high then you’ve got a problem. … Read More

Electronics Cooling, active heatsink, LN2, overclocking

I’m a big fan of product demonstrations. Having once been an application engineer, there’s nothing quite like the thrill of showing the use of a software like FloTHERM live in front of a prospect. Concentrating on highlighting the main features of the product whilst being bombarded with a barrage of questions about it is certainly a lesson in focus. At the Gadget Show live event mentioned … Read More

liquid nitrogen, Electronics Cooling, LN2, overclocking

Automotive aftermarket modification has both mass appeal and a multi-million dollar turnover. Neon underbody lighting, enhanced radiator systems, aero-dynamic side skirts and hood scoops are but some of the ways in which you can part with your hard earned cash for that unbeatable feeling of looking sideways at the person in the car next to you as you narrow your eyes and nod your head slowly, marvelling … Read More

Heatsink, Electronics Cooling, PC, Liquid Cooling, overclocking

OK, so it won’t go down in the annals of history as the best April fools ever but it had me going until I tried to order it on line. Here’s what you get: April 8th 2011, Ross-on-Wye … Read More

Electronics Cooling

"Plagiarism saves time" as can be seen in the title of this blog, a nod to Tom Hausherr’s excellent blog series, particularly Part 15 that focuses on QFNs. Whereas the internal construction of a package is of little interest when defining CAD library symbols, from a thermal simulation perspective they are absolutely critical. FloTHERM PACK can be seen as a ‘pre-processor’ … Read More

Electronics Cooling, bottleneck, QFN

FloTHERM, and its sister product FloVENT, have been going since 1989. Many in the Mechanical Analysis Division in Mentor have been working on these products for that time, personally I’m up to 15 years. It’s testament to the products and their success that our passion for them continues unabated. V9.2 was released this week, the ~20th release in these product lines. Many vendors will stand … Read More

CTM, Electronics Cooling, bottleneck, FloVENT

What a wonderful expression this is … putting feathers in our caps. I looked up the origins of this phrase and found that in the days gone by people used to put a new feather in the headgear of warriors for every enemy they defeated in battle. And the more feathers in the headdress, the more victories and the better the warrior. Our CFD battlefield is symbolic in nature but it exists nonetheless. And … Read More

Shortcut field, Bottleneck field, CFD, Award, EDN Hot 100, Electronics Cooling, Design Engineer, Design News Golden Mousetrap

The convergence of technology platforms continues apace, especially in the mobile telephony world. The world of overclockers and case modders isn’t standing still either. For the bargain price of $29.99 you can bag yourself a 5.25 inch bay toaster from CrazyPC.com. The wonderful dichotomy of having a system that requires both electronics thermal cooling and benefits from electronics thermal heating … Read More

toast, Electronics Cooling, toaster

One of the highlights of the electronics thermal management calender is the annual SEMI-THERM symposium held in sunny San Jose, California and it’s with the usual sense of excitement that I’m preparing to attend it. The acquisition of Flomerics by Mentor Graphics was two and half years ago and, despite the expectations of many, the activities and success of the ‘Mechanical Analysis … Read More

Semitherm, Electronics Cooling, T3ster

The first day of spring is almost upon us. It signals the beginning of my “smiley” days because I get to drive to and from work when it’s light outside. This year, the first day of spring also coincides with the first day of Semitherm. Semitherm which is being held in Santa Clara, California, is considered the premiere electronics cooling event in the world. Semitherm offers us a great … Read More

Semitherm, Electronics Cooling

Well, the Christian world needs to wait a couple of more weeks for Easter to come. But the lent of the semiconductor thermal management community is close to finish - at least after a long period of my silence here - since I am writing a new post again. And the reason is that we are facing a very busy week: for the semiconductor thermal management community the week between 20 and 26 March will be like … Read More

RthJC, reliability testing, SEMI-THERM, Electronics Cooling, AC LED, T3ster, LED thermal testing, LM80 tests, TIM testing, JEDEC, JESD51-14

For a blog series focused on thermal design there has been precious little design presented so far. Design is the process of making a plan for the construction of an object/product. Whether you subscribe to the rational or action-centric model of the design process, some form of iteration and adaption is used to arrive at a design that is fit for production. Trying an idea, seeing it fail, finding out … Read More

bottleneck, Electronics Cooling, beer, fridge, vent, Fan

All good things come to those who wait. For beer this entails a trade off between anticipation and satisfaction. If, too soon after you put the room temperature beer in the fridge, you get your child to grab a beer for you, your thirst might be quenched but your satisfaction might not be. Wait too long for it to cool down and you might forget you wanted one, or go to sleep, or hit the whisky instead. … Read More

Electronics Cooling, time constant, beer, Transient

As the ancient proverb goes; a beer fridge without beer is like X Factor, utterly pointless. You’d have thought that by clogging up the insides of the fridge with pesky cans of beer you’d cripple it’s thermal performance. As someone once said of Simon Cowell …”O, how wrong you are”. When modelling a can of beer in FloTHERM, in fact when modelling any part or object, … Read More

Electronics Cooling, beer