Surface temperature of electronic assemblies equipped with tilted and low-powered QFN64 subjected to free convection

Abstract

Purpose This work deals with the case of the quad flat non-lead 64 (QFN64) electronic package generating a low power range ranging from 0.01 to 0.1W. It is installed on one side of a printed circuit board (PCB) that can be inclined relative to the horizontal plane with an angle varying between 0° and 90° (horizontal and vertical positions, respectively). The surface temperature of the electronic assembly is subjected to air natural convection. Design/methodology/approach Calculations are done by means of the finite volume method for many configurations obtained by varying the generated power and the inclination angle. Findings The distribution of the surface temperature is determined on all the assembly areas (QFN and PCB). The study shows that the thermal behaviour of the electronic device is influenced by the generated power and the inclination angle. The 3D numerical survey leads to correlations allowing calculation of the average surface temperature in any part of the assembly, according to the power generated by the QFN64 and the inclination angle. Originality/value The proposed accurate correlations are original and unpublished. They optimize the thermal design of the electronic QFN64 package, which is increasingly used in many engineering fields.