An interface for numerical analysis of convective heat transfer from printed circuit boards

A geometrically-based user interface has been developed as a preprocessor for a numerical model of convective heat transfer from printed circuit boards (PCB). The physical problem is specified in a natural way as a collection of the control parameters and the objects that exist within the computational domain. Complicated configurations of discrete electronic components on a circuit board is represented by several simple physical objects with specified boundary conditions and heat-generating status. No reference to node or element number is needed and the input order of the objects can be arbitrary. The preprocessor program automatically sorts the coordinates of each object, subdivides the computational domain, eliminates the redundant coordinates and generates an object grid system that is consistent with the physical configurations of PCBs. This three dimensional geometrically-based object grid system is integrated to the main analysis codes for solving flow and temperature distribution. The geometrically-based model specification provides the hooks for a graphical user interface (GUI) which could be added later.<>