Enclosure Thermal Design

Considerations
Enclosure
• Enclosure act as a barrier and also dissipate heat to the ambient.
• In many cases the cooling is done by ambient air.
• Proper vents are made to circulate the air to improve the cooling
performance.
• Heat spreading and conducting the heat to case is also important
factor.
Selection of Right Fan Type and Size
• Different fan types are available(axial, centrifugal, radial and mixed
flow). Each type has different flow rate and pressure characteristics.
• To acheive same air flow with different flow rate and pressure
characteristics use larger fans at lower speed or smaller fans at higher
speeds..
• Larger fans has advantage of low acoustic noise and has longer field
life but the larger fans are expensive and requires larger space.
Selection of Best Fan Flow Arrangement
• Consider which type you have to use Push(push the air through the
system) or Pull(draw out air from the system) type.
• Some systems may require a dual push and pull arrangement in order
to achieve higher volume flowrates.
Use Plenum
• The incoming air to flow uniformly over the downstream.
• In push type arrangement the incoming air naturally forms a jet. So a
pressure plate can be introduced downstream of the fan to make flow
more uniform.
• The higher the flow resistance, the more uniform the flow rate
through it
Size Vents Correctly
• The size of the vent or vents affects the volume of air flowing through
the system.
• Larger vents will reduce the overall system pressure drop which will
increase the volume flow through the system.
• It will also affect the speed with which air enters or exits the system
via the vent.
Optimize Fan and Vent Placement
• Pull type fans should be place in the top of the enclosure which helps
to exhaust the hottest air in the system.
• Push type fans should be place near the bottom of the enclosure
which brings the cold air and passes through the components inside
the enclosure.
• Care with vent placement is also needed to prevent hot exhaust air
being drawn back into the system.
Design Vent Carefully
• Smooth uniform airflow is key to good design.
• Size of the vent determines the pressure characteristic of the air flow.
• Place the vent by considering the air flow.
Conduction to the Enclosure
• Conduction to the enclosure can be the primary cooling mechanism
for some fully enclosed systems.
• Heat spreader plays very important role in this, which spreads the
heat to the surface area of the case. Here the outer case acts as a
heatsink.
• Using thermal pads, heat pipes are some ways to spread the heat.
Selection of Material
• Thermal Conduction differ from material to material.
• Copper has good conduction rate compare to aluminium but copper
is more weighted and expensive than aluminium.
• Steel is the cheapest material but it has less conduction rate. So select
the material as per the cost and thermal requirements.