Transient electro-thermal simulation of interconnected systems

This paper presents the application of mathematical model order reduction (MOR) methods to the automatic generation of dynamic component models that in turn are combined with each other to simulate a complete system. The latter is achieved by means of thermal ports in the component models that allow us to form a large interconnected system. The thermal ports are preserved from the physical structure of the components. An assembly is done by interconnecting the component models at their thermal ports such that heat exchange and thermal flux between components is maintained. The assembly model allows a transient thermal simulation of the entire system in time domain. Results of the system simulation can be expanded back into the physical domain. Temperature fields can be visualized as a function of time. This approach will be demonstrated for the thermal design of an electronic module. Component models of devices and printed circuit are generated by mathematical order reduction of physical models. The virtual assembly of the module is done for combinations of devices and PCBs. The system is simulated at typical transient operating conditions. The expansion pass is used to visualize temperature fields and identify hot spots.