AUTONOMOUS & CONNECTED VEHICLES
Keeping connected electronics cool
ANDREW DEREKA | LAIRD THERMAL SYSTEMS Future connected vehicles are characterized by clusters of densely packed electronics. Thermoelectric modules can keep the temperature of these hot spots at manageable levels.
Advances in automotive electronics tend to come in small packages where dense circuitry squeezed into a pint-sized footprint generates lots of heat and thermal challenges for designers.
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DESIGN WORLD — EE NETWORK
Laird — A&CV HB 08-19_v2.indd 22
8 • 2019
The usual way of cooling electronics is to use convection heat transfer to a heat sink and then go to more drastic measures if necessary. But a heat sink alone will only cool to just above ambient temperatures. If the heat sink has a high thermal resistance, its hot-side temperature will be several degrees above ambient, a situation that happens frequently.
eeworldonline.com | designworldonline.com
8/8/19 8:12 AM
