Design Techniques for Thermal Management in Switch Mode Converters

• Published in: IEEE transactions on industry applications Vol. 42; no. 6; pp. 1375 - 1386
• Main Authors: de Jong, E.C.W., Ferreira, J.A., Bauer, P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.11.2006; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: AC-DC power conversion; Adjustment; Assembly; Circuit boards; Converters; Density; design methodology; Electronic packaging thermal management; Energy management; Figure of merit; finite-difference methods (FDMs); Industry Applications Society; optimization methods; Paper technology; Power electronics; Printed circuits; printed-circuit board (PCB) assembled power supplies; Product design; Switches; Switching converters; Thermal management; thermal variables control; Thermal variables measurement
• ISSN: 0093-9994; 1939-9367
• DOI: 10.1109/TIA.2006.882674

Thermal management plays a pivotal role in achieving high power densities in converters. Improvement on thermal performance of critical components in printed-circuit board (PCB) assembled switch mode converters is achieved by using design techniques that extend across electromagnetic, geometrical, and thermal-integration technologies. For better use of the already available PCB material, three-dimensional component layout and flexible PCB technology are utilized to gain advantages. A theory to evaluate the thermal-management effectiveness of switch mode converters is introduced based on two new figures of merit, namely thermal-management loss density and thermal-design rating. These two figures of merit quantify the effective use of thermal-management material as well as the thermal performance of a converter design. The figure-of-merit criteria allow flexibility so that it can be adjusted to an appropriate design objective. Design objectives include achieving higher power densities or achieving good reliability. The thermal-management-effectiveness theory is applied here to thermally optimize a Flyback converter that has been geometrically integrated. The design technique to adjust the thermal-management effectiveness of integrated switch mode converters to achieve a set objective, by means of the introduced figures of merit, forms the core of the publication, validated by experimental measurements