CFD simulation embedded in CAD
New version of Simcenter FLOEFD 2312 software enhances CAD-integrated CFD to reduce preprocessing activities, accelerate electronic thermal design workflows, while adding new capabilities for structural analysis and an application programming interface (API) improved for simulation automation.
Read below for information about these and new features, such as faster convergent geometry CFD meshing, improved speed for smart PCB thermal modeling, PCB reflow oven modeling, and more.
PCB Reflow Oven Thermal Process Simulation
In a PCB reflow oven, as a PCB moves along a conveyor, it is exposed to heating and cooling zones with different airflow speeds and temperature parameters.
The parameter values of these zones, as well as the conveyor speed, must be chosen by the PCB customer prior to manufacturing. The operation design challenge is to increase conveyor speed to achieve the highest throughput while meeting thermal constraints to prevent damage to components mounted on the PCB. Experimental approaches to determine these parameters are expensive because failed attempts lead to lost time, reduced product quality, or low yield. Simulating the reflow oven process to optimize operating parameters prior to physical testing is very advantageous.
In Simcenter FLOEFD 2312, a design template has been added so that you can create and modify a PCB reflow oven simulation as a transient study to reflect conditions as a board moves through an oven. The model leverages the project parameters functionality in Simcenter FLOEFD and the new EFDAPI automation features are used to modify parameters. The approach simulates the reflow process within a small volume space around the PCB with moving flow boundary conditions, rather than simulating the real furnace with moving bodies.
Watch this video to see indicative steps in setting up and running a PCB reflow oven thermal process simulation.
Note: Advanced use of this new feature combines Simcenter FLOEFD and the Simcenter HEEDS design exploration and simulation automation tool for extensive optimization studies.
PCB Thermal Analysis: EDA Bridge Autonomous Thermal Territories
The fidelity of localized PCB thermal modeling provides the accuracy advantage for modeling copper and layers beneath critical components. This computationally efficient solution remains a good alternative to explicit modeling applied to an entire board. Previously in Simcenter FLOEFD, thermal territories were defined centered on a single component and with a defined aspect ratio. Now in Simcenter FLOEFD 2312, users can specify an independent thermal territory that can be placed anywhere independently on a PCB and then define its aspect ratio. This allows localized modeling fidelity to be defined to cover areas with groups of components more easily.
Users define the following settings and then select the modeling level:
1) Location (X and Y)
2) Size (Length and Width)
PCB thermal analysis: EDA Bridge script
Users can now record and playback scripts that capture the workflow in the main EDA Bridge window, where you process imported ECAD data. Functionality that can be recorded and performed includes actions such as changing the plate shaping level and creating thermal territories. Scripts will be improved in subsequent versions from Simcenter FLOEFD 2312 onwards.
Thermal Modeling of Electronic Components: Package Creator Updates
What is Package Creator? The Package Creator utility in Simcenter FLOEFD allows engineers to quickly and easily create thermal models of IC packages based on 3D CAD geometry in minutes from a list of model guides for common package families. These detailed models can then be used in electronics cooling simulation studies in Simcenter FLOEFD.
In Simcenter FLOEFD 2312, the following updates have been implemented in Package Creator:
– 2 new initial IC package models: Flip Chip CBGA and Wirebond CBGA.
– Creating detailed Simcenter Flotherm-ready models that you can export to share with other organizations
Structural Analysis Enhancements in Simcenter FLOEFD 2312
Structural: Mesh Boolean operation to easily handle complex geometry
Certain complex geometry models can sometimes create problems whereby Boolean operations simply cannot be completed using Boolean CAD processes, or in other cases Boolean preprocessor approaches can be very time consuming. A new, improved structural mesh generator and geometry preparation now supports Mesh Boolean for structural analysis meshing. This provides a solution that allows engineers to create meshes more quickly and automatically, even for extremely complex geometries.
Structural: Nonlinear materials
The engineering database has been enhanced to be able to define engineering stress-strain curves for solid materials in Simcenter FLOEFD, to combine with leveraging the existing capabilities of the Simcenter 3D Nastran solver to perform an analysis. As a reminder, the Simcenter NASTRAN nonlinear solver connection to Simcenter FLOEFD was introduced in version 2306.
Structural: Large deformation modeling
A new option can now be selected for large deformations by activating the corresponding option of the Simcenter 3D nonlinear Nastran solver. Simcenter FLOEFD 2312 now allows recalculation of engineering stress-strain to true stress-strain. This provides more accurate results for analysis where large strain values are reached.
Structural: Improved general contacts
Using Simcenter FLOEFD and leveraging the Simcenter 3D Nastran nonlinear solver when modeling general contact types now means that contacts can appear and disappear during the iterative calculation process as a result of body deformation. In previous versions of FLOEFD, contacts were created before starting the solver and could not be changed, appear or disappear for deformed bodies.
Faster CFD Mesh for Converged, Faceted, and STL Geometries
Meshing is now accelerated for convergent, faceted, and STL geometries, so it is as efficient as meshing for parametric solid geometry. An example below being 10x faster for a vehicle model that was converted from STL data as a convergent body for an external aerodynamics study.
Simcenter FLOEFD with mesh size of 62 million cells.
Comparing mesh time:
In the previous version 2306 = 2 hours
Now in version 2312 = 12 minutes
Smart PCB Thermal Modeling – Fidelity and Speed Improvements
The Smart PCB feature is one of several options for PCB thermal shaping. It is a sophisticated approach to efficiently capture the detailed material distribution of a PCB without the additional computational resource and time penalties typically required to explicitly model the PCB. This is done using a grid assembly approach, where a voxel-style grid is generated based on images of each PCB layer in imported EDA data.
In Simcenter FLOEFD 2312 , the solver speed for Smart PCB calculation has been significantly optimized so that you can better leverage this modeling option for even faster, high-precision PCB thermal analysis. Additionally, this speedup of the solver allowed changing the default settings for the number of blocks on a PCB. Settings now go from the default 100 to 300, which in turn produces a more accurate solution, especially when using the “Fine” modeling option.
The solution times results for 3 different models are shown below comparing the fine and medium settings for the number of parts defined, both in Simcenter FLOEFD 2312 and the previous version 2306. The illustrated solution times show a speed increased by a factor of 1.5 times to 8 times is possible, which is advantageous to perform accurate PCB thermal studies in less time. Clearly, the size and complexity of the PCB is a factor in the possible speedup, as one would expect. You can also notice the significantly shorter solution time for a Smart PCB to solve compared to an Explicit PCB template.
Automation – EFDAPI is an enhanced API to speed up your process
The new EFDAPI has been introduced and now covers all existing features and parameters in Simcenter FLOEFD . Enhanced functionality and greater ease of use allow engineers to leverage automation to reduce simulation workflow.
Consider the case of automating the electronic cooling simulation of a Boost Converter
The following short video illustrates the automation of the following steps
Run CAD and open the model
Create FLOEFD project
Configure all boundary conditions and simulation settings
Run the simulation and post-process the results
Post-processing batch results without opening CAD
Typically using CFD embedded in Simcenter FLOEFD CAD in normal operation, a project needs to be opened and the results need to be loaded to create resulting images and spreadsheets. Creating them automatically after calculation uses the “Batch Results Processing” tool. Batch processing of results is now possible without opening CAD.
Now you can:
– use command line execution export that generates the files needed for batch processing of results on Windows or Linux machines
– run the solver on the remote server and batch process the results on the server at the end of a solution automatically, without copying the files back to the client
In this short video below, the steps are illustrated:
SCD5 Export Support for Simcenter 3D
Simcenter FLOEFD fields can now be exported in Simcenter 3D SCD5 format. This results in a binary file for transferring data from FLOEFD to Simcenter 3D. This means that there can be a significant file size advantage using the SCD5 binary format. This helps in transferring fields from a thermal analysis to a thermomechanical stress analysis in Simcenter 3D.
You can export steady-state or transient pressure and temperature fields to a CGNS file using the SCD5 mesh file as input data.
Simcenter FLOEFD scene files can now be saved in JT format. This allows you to view Teamcenter simulation results using its viewer (which uses the JT format).
Would you like to optimize the thermal performance of your electronics projects? With the new version of Simcenter FLOEFD 2312, you can drastically reduce preprocessing time and speed up your project workflow. From advanced structural analysis to intelligent PCB thermal modeling, this enhanced software offers a range of possibilities. Schedule a meeting with CAEXPERTS today to find out how we can help boost your simulation efficiency and accuracy.