Model Building Part 2: ECAD Import - Ansys Icepak

Hello everybody, in this workshop we are going to develop a detailed I-Spec model. We will assign the boundaries, we will import the trace options, we will also assign the trace and metal fractions on the PCB and view them.

We will also look into a couple of tips to increase productivity by the use of more face alignment tools, copying objects and editing multiple objects together. We will build the model from scratch and then we will import the traces onto the PCB. Go to Edit. Preferences.

We will change the screen up direction to Z. We will now change the unit. We will add a cabinet to the system. Double click on cabinet. Geometric properties. Now move to properties tab. Select what are the boundaries of this cabinet like. We will select wall or wall. MaxY, minY and minZ and maxZ.

Select the cabinet walls. Right click. Edit. Now we can change the property of multiple walls together. Go to properties. We will assign a heat actor to display the color and temperature to the iron structure. Now check and it will transfer over North. And then we will destroy.

And the person is off. At the moment, it didn't load yet. We will select the grill and select allow out for the time being. You can see why it's giving the error that the grill is outside the cabinet. You are now going to morph the faces (this is the morph face icon). Select the first face.

Accept it using the central mouse button. Select the second face. Accept it and the grill will be placed on the appropriate place. Now we will add an intake fan. Click on the stand icon. Double click on the fan for the geometric properties. You want a three-dimensional fan. Align it with yz.

Center of the fan. Protect and the fan has been placed appropriately. Now we will change the properties of the fan. The properties flow type is normally here. You go to We will add a non-linear curve to the system using the text editor. You can specify your curve.

You use cfm and inches of water column pressure and write down the values. Spacing is not significant here as long as the data is presented in pairs. Now if we go to the graph editor, we should be able to see the fan curve. You can also add and delete fan points by using this graph editor.

I'll be using the middle button in my mouse to add fan curve points. As you can see, you're going to copy this fan. So we are going to copy this fan and then we are going to copy this fan's points. So we are going to copy this one. Copy.

Translate the fan in the y direction by 60 mm and we have a second fan which has been added to the system. You can change the color of the fans by going to the info tab. You change the shading to a solid value or you can change to any of these options. You can also use the white color.

And we will specify the heat thermal resistance. And copy this block. Translate it in the Y direction. And copy this block. And number them accordingly. We'll add a couple of more blocks. This will be our board. A large flash drive. Well, now, we can add some power to the block.

Select DDR4 together. Edit. We have the same power. The large flash emits 0.5 watts. And the small flash emits 0.25 watts. We will now add a package to the system. It's a PVGA package. Package thickness is 2.5 mm. We'll align it to the XY plane. We'll change the model type to detailed.

And we'll add a new one. The schematic button helps, in understanding the panel inputs. And the component visibility button lists all the components inside the package. If you click on component visibility, it will show you all of these components inside the package.

Click on schematic button and will show you the schematic of the package. We'll now specify the shoulder. We'll add a new component. We'll add a new component. We'll specify it in terms of los. We'll specify it in terms of notepads. And the angle size and the pitch.

Specify the ball diameters, and the material. They can seem a little shorter. Once our visit, move to dimeworld and specify the power. Set the values. Update. Now we will add a detailed heat sink. This is the heat sink icon. Change the geometric properties. Specify the number of fin count.

Thickness. OK. It sits right on top of package 2. Double click on the board. Go to geometry. At this point, we are going to import an ECAD file. It's called an ANSYS EDB file. It's a .DEF file. We'll change the reposition from object to trace to trace to object.

And we will disable the resize object option. In this case, the traces will be repositioned to the location of the board. As the board and traces are of the same size, there is no need to resize the board. A new window opens up. Which shows the board layer and via information.

You can see every layer and its thickness. Now we can change the thickness of each and every layer. Select the grid density by size. The row and column size will be 0. 254. And the 0. 254. So this becomes a square.

The grid density is used to compute the metal fractions and the local effective conductivity. It's a good idea that a grid is cut equal to the minimum value or minimum trace width for accurate results.

It's a good idea to cut a grid size equal to the minimum via all the values or minimum trace width.

Here for computationally, we are using two times the value and hence, or a minimum trace width of 0.127, we are specifying twice the value of that, that is 0. 254. We can now see all the traces that have been imported. You can also right click on the board and change the way the traces are seen.

Color by traces. Color by layer. Or using a single color. Also under model. If we want to see the metal fractions. Select the board. Select the top layer. And display. And it shows you the metal fraction on the first layer. Similarly. Select any other layer. Display.

And it shows you the metal layer on that display. We will now rename our components. Click on this icon. To see the power and temperature limits that you have specified. These are all the powers that have been specified. It is a very helpful tool to get an overview of the model.

The default temperature is set to 20 degrees. And you can also modify the powers here if you want. You can also look at the summary in HTML format. It comes out like this. Summary report is very useful. And you can use it to review your model.

There is another option to see the model in terms of materials. Through model. Show objects by material. And you can then look at which material is FR 4. Which material is pure copper. So now you should be able to build a model using imported ECAD traces.

You will be able to review your model summaries and your own temperature limits. You can also use morph faces to align different tools. Copy objects and rename multiple objects at the same time.