6SigmaET, a CFD-based electronic cooling software package, has been introduced by Future Facilities Inc. The San Jose, Cal. firm describes the software as the first new product for electronics thermal analysis developed in the last decade.
6SigmaET is a new module to directly address electronics design – especially electronics
cooling. It is built on the same architecture as 6SigmaRoom and 6SigmaRack.
6SigmaET represents the latest generation of CFD based simulation for the design and packaging of modern electronics. It offers the industry a new level of modeling automation and productivity with unique features that include:
• A modern, state-of-the-art user interface that combines powerful CFD analysis and first-rate MCAD functions. Use the 3D MCAD model as-is for analysis in 6SigmaET with minimal simplification or translation. The object based gridding in 6SigmaET automatically recognizes the CAD model and prepares it for the simulation.
• Import multiple native 2D AutoCAD Drawings and use it as a tracing paper for building the 3D model
• Import multiple complex STL Shapes from your preferred MCAD Software
• Sophisticated post-processing displays results on the full STL shape
• A complete intelligent set of modeling objects for fast, precise model creation
• Fully automated, object-aware gridding
• Integrated version management
• Acceptance of rotated and angled geometry
• Direct and intelligent import of IDF EDA and STL MCAD data
• Customizable, automatic report generation
• Fast, efficient, and robust solving
6SigmaET dramatically streamlines model creation, gridding, solving and post-processing. An automated process is used to completely convert incoming computer aided design data to intelligent objects such as the chips, capacitors, resistors and other components on a printed circuit board, and complex shaped heatsinks, and so on. A heatsink can be snapped onto a chip and a chip can be snapped onto a board, eliminating much of the cumbersome positioning required with primitive-based electronics cooling software. The intelligence contained in every aspect of the model enables automatic meshing such as increasing the grid density in critical areas.
The next generation design of 6SigmaET also overcomes limitations of other electronics cooling software that struggles with complex geometry. 6SigmaET solves the conduction equations required to accurately simulate rotated or angled geometry such as angled DIMMs; it also provides an updated user interface that greatly reduces learning time and reduces the time required to perform nearly all basic modeling and reporting tasks.
Advanced multigrid solver technology makes the solution process faster and more robust. 6SigmaET bases reporting on the intelligent objects in the model, such as the electronic components, rather than abstract, geometric constructs, greatly reducing the time needed to obtain information necessary to evaluate or characterize the design.
One of the objectives of thermal analysis is to avoid hot spots in electronic equipment, which can reduce resilience.
6SigmaET is part of the 6SigmaDC software suite, which is the first thermal analysis software that addresses the complete design chain running from printed circuit board design, to electronic systems such as blades and servers, to rack-level systems, to the data center itself. 6SigmaET’s sister product 6SigmaRoom can be used to optimize the performance of the electronic system in the environment where it is intended to be used. This makes it possible to design equipment for next-generation configurations such as modular data centers that contain fan-less servers. Next generation configurations are already heavily used in data centers such as Google’s Data Center A and are being eyed for other complex systems with high electronics content such as military aircraft.
Future Facilities Inc.
www.futurefacilities.com/6SigmaET
::Design World::
Source: :: Design World ::
