Modeling and Selecting the Best Fan

Thermal Simulation Helps Design New Telecom Platform

"Simulation gave me the freedom to consider a wide range of alternative designs by letting me evaluate their performance quickly and at very little cost. A single thermal simulation gives you a detailed understanding of what is going on inside the box and helps you quickly identify the root causes of the problem.

We made the chassis design modular so that fan configuration could be switched between push and push-pull and the size of the plenums could be adjusted. The result is that the TurboFabric not only meets the thermal requirements of the foreseeable future but can be upgraded to provide a future-proof solution for telecommunications equipment manufacturers."
Dave Watson, Thermal Design Team Leader - Simclar Group

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Thermal Simulation Helps Redback Networks Create First Million-Subscriber Platform

Redback Networks set out to create the first million-subscriber platform for triple-play services such as high definition television (HDTV), high density video on demand (HD VoD) and broadband mobility. To obtain this improvement in performance and functionality, power dissipation of the line cards increased twofold relative to the previous generation.

This created a thermal management problem since key application specific integrated circuits were already close to their junction temperature specifications. Redback Mechanical Engineer Wendy Lu overcame this challenge by simulating airflow and heat transfer within the enclosure. By optimizing plenum geometry and using a higher performing fan, she was able to double the system airflow. The new platform is just going into production but it has already been selected by one of the top 20 telephone carriers in the world, ChungHwa Telecom (CHT) of Taiwan.

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Reducing Development Costs and Time-to-Market for IFR's Signal Generators

Flomerics Thermal Design Services played a crucial role in significantly reducing development costs and time-to-market for IFR's ultra compact IFR 3410 range of RF signal generators for the wireless test market, which combine wide frequency cover and high performance digital modulations in a small package.

Analysis revealed that a fan mounted on an enclosure within the product's RF compartment was causing heated air to re-circulate, while the effect of a finned heat sink was identified as being paradoxical. Through further analysis the team identified a solution that enabled both the fan and the heat sink to be omitted from the design, thus reducing the product's cost andacoustic emissions.

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Simulation Overcomes Challenge of 14U Chassis with 1700 Watts

A network equipment supplier conceived of a new data communications product capable of providing dramatic improvements in performance. But these improvements came at the price of exceptionally high power dissipation. This provided a tough thermal challenge in the telecom central office where equipment must fit within tight space constraints and demonstrate the ability to operate even after fan failures.

The network supplier asked Amphenol TCS, the backplane supplier, to perform thermal simulation in the concept phase to verify the viability of the new chassis concept. Amphenol simulated the product, which includes a total of fourteen 100-Watt and two 150-Watt printed circuit boards (PCBs). They evaluated a series of different chassis sizes and fan types and configurations and finally identified a design that met the requirements.

“This project demonstrates how thermal simulation can be used in the early stages of the design process to minimize expensive late-stage changes and reduce time to market,” Chris Heard, Engineer - Amphenol

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