Videos > Thermoelectric Cooler (TEC) Modeling with Ansys Icepak
Jul 17, 2024

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Thermoelectric Cooler (TEC) Modeling with Ansys Icepak

Hello and welcome to a new edition of Ozen Engineering videos. In this video, I will discuss ANSYS Icepak, focusing on the modeling of thermoelectric coolers (TEC).

Model Setup

We will begin by unpacking an existing model that includes a board with an IC package on top. Our goal is to add a TEC and heat spreaders to the IC package.

Step-by-Step Instructions

  1. Inspect the Board and Package:
    • Double-click on the board element to check dimensions and properties.
    • Expand and double-click on the package to verify dimensions and ensure a power of about 25 watts is applied.
  2. Add Heat Spreader:
    • Create a conducting plate over the package by clicking the "Create Blocks" button.
    • Define the size, update, and visually confirm its position on the package.
  3. Add Thermoelectric Cooler (TEC):
    • Navigate to libraries under Icepak and select a TEC from the thermoelectric coolers section.
    • Double-click to place the TEC, then right-click to move it into the correct position using rotation and translation.
  4. Define Thermal Boundary Conditions:
    • Create a wall at the bottom along a specified line, set its thermal properties, and update.
    • Create a second object on top, define its location, and update.
  5. Mesh Generation:
    • Use separate mesh settings for different components.
    • Generate the mesh and ensure face alignment and skewness are optimal.
  6. Monitor Points and Problem Setup:
    • Define monitor points for tracking properties like temperature.
    • Set up the problem parameters, excluding radiation and flow considerations.
  7. Run the Simulation:
    • Save the model and use the "Run Tech Macro" for execution.
    • Specify current and material properties, then execute the simulation.
  8. Post-Processing:
    • Analyze the temperature field using plane cuts and contour views.
    • Generate a summary report to review min, max, and mean temperatures.

Conclusion

This concludes our analysis of the thermoelectric cooler using ANSYS Icepak. Thank you for your interest in this presentation.

[This was auto-generated. There may be mispellings.]

Hello and welcome to a new edition of OZEN Engineering videos. In this video, I'm going to talk about ANSYS Icepak and focus on modeling of thermoelectric coolers. For this purpose, I'm going to unpack an existing model, which essentially has a board and an IC package on top of it.

We're going to put a TEC and heat spreaders on top of our IC package to spread out. Let's double click on our board element. Check the dimensions and properties. Expand our package. Double click on the package. Check our dimensions. Make sure we have some power, about 25 watts.

Now, we're going to heat up the system. Add a conducting plate over the package and call it a heat spreader. Conduct the heat away. Create blocks. Define the sizing. Visually confirm. Add our TEC. Go to libraries under Icepak. Thermoelectric coolers. Pick this particular one. Place our object.

Rotate it about the x-axis for 90 degrees. Put in some offsets. Move it into the correct position close to the heat source. Add our second conducting plate or heat spreader. Create blocks. Resize. Place on top. Define thermal boundary conditions. Create a wall at the bottom.

Define its thermal properties. Heat transfer coefficient, value is 15 watts per meter square at ambient temperature. Define a second object that will go on top. Define its location. Place on the top side. Remove the top line. Define heat transfer coefficient. Cut and eliminate outra g plug.

Increase the temperature. Define the terminal boundary condition. Fixed wall temperature of ambient, which is 20 degrees. Go to cabinet and do an auto scale. Define our domain with thermal boundary conditions in the ymin and ymax locations. And we also defined our geometry and the power.

Before going any further, noticed I mistakenly placed block 1 into the package. Deleted this object. Renamed this as heat spreader 2. Add other block and edit. Call this heat spreader 1 and redefine its geometry. Do the meshing. Pick our layered assembly. Click Edit.

Use near one millimeter for slack settings. Do a separate mesh on the package. Use the same values. Not global mesh settings, but these settings right here. Select the mesh. Generate the mesh. Take a look at our mesh. Make sure our face alignment and skewness have good values.

Put some monitor points where we can track properties. Go under package, take this object, and put it under points. Similarly, pick our TEC code. Place it under points. Define our problem. Go on our tree to problem setup, double click on basic parameters. Do a term temperature calculation.

Save our model before running. Run the thermoelectric cooling case. Go under macros, under modeling, and under run tech. Specify our current as 1.5 amperes. Give the run name and hit accept. Take a look at the solution. Plane cut. Look at the contours. Hide these objects.

See the entire cross section. High temperatures on the package, but then heat is getting conducted away with our TEC. Get numerical values. Go under report, select summary report. Pick report facet values and then pick some objects. See the min, max, and mean temperatures on these objects.

This concludes our analysis of the TEC Ceramics. Thank you for your interest.

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