Today's PCBs incorporate more metallic layers (copper) than in the past, due to advanced functionality, leading to more complex thermal response as boards proceed though the reflow oven. Environmental concerns like lead-free manufacturing and hazardous substances, plus the limitations found in automated design tools for process engineering, also impact the PCB layout. This presentation explains how adopting a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) capability, when applied to PCB design data available from enterprise EDA tools, can provide complete, ready-to-simulate thermal analysis models of PCBs. Use of CFD in reflow profiling is relatively new, enabling quick thermal analysis in just minutes, compared with traditional processes.
