Abstract
Increasing demand for usage of electronics intensely in narrow enclosures necessitates accurate thermal analyses to be performed. Conduction based FEM (Finite Element Method) is a common and practical way to examine the thermal behavior of an electronic system. First step to perform a numerical analysis for any system is to set up the correct analysis model. In this paper, a method for obtaining the coefficient of thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity of a PCB which has generally a complex composite layup structure composed of conductive layers, and dielectric layers. In the study, above mentioned properties are obtained performing a simple nondestructive experiment and a numerical analysis. In the method, a small portion of PCB is sandwiched from one side at certain pressure by jaws. A couple of linear temperature profiles are applied to the jaws successively. Unknown values are tuned in the analysis model until the results of FEM analysis and experiment match. The values for the coefficient of thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity which the experiment and numerical analysis results match can be said to be the actual values. From this point on, the PCB whose thermal properties are determined can be analyzed numerically for any desired geometry and boundary condition.
