Articles from May 2002 Issue

Dynamic Measurements: A Cornerstone of the European PROFIT Project

May 1st, 2002

This article presents an overview of a number of dynamic measurement methods as part of the European PROFIT project. Due to lack of space, details cannot be given, but the interested reader is invited to…read more

Dynamic Temperature Measurements: Tools Providing a Look into Package and Mount Structures

May 1st, 2002

Today it is commonly accepted that dynamic thermal measurements, which have been used for more than 20 years [1], [2], [3], [4], are superior to steady-state ones. The temperature vs. time function – often called…read more

Estimating Temperatures in a Water-to-Air Hybrid Cooling System

May 1st, 2002

As most readers are no doubt aware, the trend towards ever increasing processor module power is making it more and more difficult to cool directly with air. Many thermal engineers are convinced that water cooling…read more

Flash Diffusivity Method: A Survey of Capabilities

May 1st, 2002

The development, specification, and quality control of materials used in electronics packaging and thermal management often require the measurement of thermophysical properties.This data can be critical to a successful design, especially with the rapidly increasing…read more

The Thermal Conductivity of Thermal Insulators

May 1st, 2002

This issue, we present an overview of a number of materials that are often used as thermal insulators. The world would have been much easier for thermal engineers if only the creator had provided us…read more

Thermal Design Challenges in Automotive Alternator Power Electronics

May 1st, 2002

Ever since the advent of the automotive alternator, or claw-pole alternating current generator, in the 1960′s, there has been an ever-increasing thermal design challenge to cool the power electronics in these machines. Figure 1 depicts…read more

Understanding Phase Change Materials

May 1st, 2002

Although phase change materials (PCM) were introduced nearly twenty years ago, it was not until the development of the high-powered Pentium processor that this class of interface material gained widespread acceptance. The large quantities of…read more