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Coolit is helping Raytheon shorten its design cycle and eliminate
costly and time-consuming redesigns. The military electronics leader
is detecting potential thermal problems early in the development
cycle when engineers have maximum flexibility in packaging design
and component placement.
Recently Raytheon upgraded an 18 x 9 x 7 inch, rack-mounted communications
package containing two power supplies drawing a total of 600 watts.
When the proposed air-cooled design was analyzed using conventional
thermal techniques, the analysis indicated that component junction
temperatures would remain comfortably at 146 deg. C. and not exceed
the 150 deg. C. upper limit.
However, when the same design was subjected to the scrutiny of
Coolit, a different scenario emerged. Coolit predicted that the
junction temperature would reach an unhealthy 176 deg. C, threatening
system reliability. Specifically, Coolit indicated that the power
supply heat sink could not adequately dissipate the heat unless
the number of heat sink fins is increased.
Coolit also helped optimize air flow. Initially, air was diverted
so that it would brush both the component and heat sink sides of
the power supplies. CFD analysis showed that by redirecting more
flow to the heat sink side of the assembly, the heat dissipation
could be dramatically improved.
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