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Latest Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFDs) tools allow modeling more finely the conjugate thermo-fluidic behavior of a single electronic component mounted on a Printed Wiring Board (PWB). A realistic three-dimensional representation of a large set of electric copper traces of its composite structure is henceforth achievable. The purpose of this study is to confront the predictions of the fully detailed numerical model of an electronic board to a set of experiment results to assess their relevance.

The present study focuses on the case of a Ball Grid Array (BGA) package of 208 solder balls that connect the component electronic chip to the Printed Wiring Board. Its complete geometrical definition has to be coupled with a realistic board layers layout and a fine description of their numerous copper traces to appropriately predict the way the heat is spread throughout that multi-layer composite structure. The numerical model computations were conducted on four CFD software then compare to experiment results. The component thermal metrics for single-chip packages are based on the standard promoted by the Joint Electron Device Engineering Council (JEDEC), named JESD-51. The agreement of the numerical predictions and measurements has been done for free and forced convection.

The present work shows that the numerical model error is lower than 2 per cent for various convective boundary conditions. Moreover, the establishment of realistic numerical models of electronic components permits to properly apprehend multi-physics design issues, such as joule heating effect in copper traces. Moreover, the practical modeling assumptions, such as effective thermal conductivity calculation, used since decades, for characterizing the thermal performances of an electronic component were tested and appeared to be tricky. A new approach based on an effective thermal conductivity matrix is investigated to reduce computation time. The obtained numerical results highlight a good agreement with experimental data.

The study highlights that the board three-dimensional modeling is mandatory to properly match the set of experiment results. The conventional approach based on a single homogenous layer using effective thermal conductivity calculation has to be banned.

The thermal design of complex electronic components is henceforth under increasing control. For instance, the impact of gold wire-bonds can now be investigated. The three-dimensional geometry of sophisticated packages, such as in BGA family, can be imported with all its internal details as well as those of its associated test board to build a realistic numerical model. The establishment of behavioral models such as DELPHI Compact Thermal Models can be performed on a consistent three-dimensional representation with the aim to minimize computation time.

The study highlights that multi-layer copper trace plane discretization could be used to strongly reduce computation time while conserving a high accuracy level.

The purpose of this paper is to supply an analytical steady-state solution to the heat transfer equation permitting to fast design investigation. The capability to efficiently transfer the heat away from high-powered electronic devices is a ceaseless challenge. More than ever, the aluminium or copper heat spreaders seem less suitable for maintaining the component sensitive temperature below manufacturer operating limits. Emerging materials, such as annealed pyrolytic graphite (APG), have proposed a new alternative to conventional solid conduction without the gravity dependence of a heat-pipe solution.

An APG material is typically sandwiched between a pair of aluminium sheets to compose a robust graphite-based structure. The thermal behaviour of that stacked structure and the effect of the sensitivity of the design parameters on the effective thermal performances is not well known. The ultrahigh thermal conductivity of the APG core is restricted to in-plane conduction and can be 200 times higher than its through-the-thickness conductivity. So, a lower-than-anticipated cross-plane thermal conductivity or a higher-than-anticipated interlayer thermal resistance will compromise the component heat transfer to a cold structure. To analyse the sensitivity of these parameters, an analytical model for a multi-layered structure based on the Fourier series and the superposition principle was developed, which allows predicting the temperature distribution over an APG flat-plate depending on two interlayer thermal resistances.

The current work confirms that the in-plane thermal conductivity of APG is among the highest of any conduction material commonly used in electronic cooling. The analysed case reveals that an effective thermal conductivity twice as higher than copper can be expected for a thick APG sheet. The relevance of the developed analytical approach was compared to numerical simulations and experiments for a set of boundary conditions. The comparison shows a high agreement between both calculations to predict the centroid and average temperatures of the heating sources. Further, a method dedicated to the practical characterization of the effective thermal conductivity of an APG heat-spreader is promoted.

The interlayer thermal resistances act as dissipation bottlenecks which magnify the performance discrepancy. The quantification of a realistic value is more than ever mandatory to assess the APG heat-spreader technology.

Conventional heat spreaders seem less suitable for maintaining the component-sensitive temperature below the manufacturer operating limits. Having an in-plane thermal conductivity of 1,600 W.m⁻¹.K⁻¹, the APG material seems to be the next paradigm for solving endless needs of a thermal designer.

This approach is a practical tool to tailor sensitive parameters early to select the right design concept by taking into account potential thermal issues, such as the critical interlayer thermal resistance.

Argues that the costs and problems of quality are largely predetermined in product development and, therefore, there are limits to what can be achieved thereafter by the application of best‐practice manufacture and quality control. Presents knowledge‐based design‐for‐quality methods which enable a business to identify product characteristics which represent potential failures and their associated costs. Discusses application modes and includes a product case study.

This study proposes targeted modernization of the Department of Defense (DoD's) Joint Forces Ammunition Logistics information system by implementing the optimized innovative information technology open architecture design and integrating Radio Frequency Identification Device data technologies and real-time optimization and control mechanisms as the critical technology components of the solution. The innovative information technology, which pursues the focused logistics, will be deployed in 36 months at the estimated cost of $568 million in constant dollars. We estimate that the Systems, Applications, Products (SAP)-based enterprise integration solution that the Army currently pursues will cost another $1.5 billion through the year 2014; however, it is unlikely to deliver the intended technical capabilities.

In the semiconductor electronics industry, effective heat removal from the integrated circuits (IC) chip, through the electronic package to the environment is crucial to maintain an allowable junction temperature of the IC chip. Thermal performances of such electronic packages are characterized by package thermal resistance called θ‐JA and are widely used in the electronic industry. Improving thermal performance is numerically predicted using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technique and experimental tests are carried out to verify the numerical predictions. To provide new/additional data and demonstrate CFD technique for thermal characterization of electronic packages with experimental results.

The thermal performance of electronic packages has been studied using a CFD technique. The finite volume method is a technique used for solving a set of partial differential equations in a domain, using control volume based discretization. A detailed thermal model of an electronic package was created using a CFD tool and validated against the experimental data obtained in a natural convection environment, compliant to JEDEC standards. The thermal performance of the package was evaluated for different die sizes and epoxy molding compounds at different power levels. The use of a heat slug was investigated to identify its effect on heat dissipation for the future generations of IC, which are expected to be smaller in size and to dissipate more power. Free convective flow velocities, detailed temperature and heat flow distributions around the package will also be presented.

The study demonstrates that applying CFD techniques can provide accurate results on estimating thermal characterization of an electronic package. Predicted device junction temperatures as well as the thermal resistance of packages can be predicted with a good accuracy for different ranges of power levels in natural convection. The numerically estimated die junction temperatures have also been found to be accurate and reliable.

The analysis is limited to an incompressible fluid. The effect of forced convection is not considered.

New and additional generated data will be helpful in the design and decision making time of the product to choose a low cost and viable thermal performance solution in the cooling of electronic components at low power.

The electronic package involves multi‐material and applying CFD technique is useful to determine the accurate thermal performance and simple and fast to apply for different conditions/material sets. Predictions of junction‐to‐ambient thermal resistance and device junction temperature values are compared against measurements. Excellent correlation was obtained. The results thus obtained compare well with the experimental results, but the computational effort and time required in the analysis is much small as compared.

A review of state‐of‐the‐art technology pertinent to tape automated bonding (for fine pitch, high I/O, high performance, high yield, high volume and high reliability) is presented. Emphasis is placed on a new understanding of the key elements (for example, tapes, bumps, inner lead bonding, testing and burn‐in on tape‐with‐chip, encapsulation, outer lead bonding, thermal management, reliability and rework) of this rapidly moving technology.

The appropriate selection of a testing method largely determines the accuracy of a measurement. Parasitic effects associated with test fixture demand a significant consideration in a measurement. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a measurement procedure which can be used for the characterization of surface mount devices (SMD) components, especially devoted to SMD inductors.

The paper describes measurement technique, characterization, and extracting parameters of SMD components for printed circuit board (PCB) applications. The commercially available components (multi‐layer chip SMD inductors in the ceramic body) are measured and characterized using a vector network analyzer E5071B and adaptation test fixture on PCB board. Measurement results strongly depend on the choice of the PCB; the behaviour of the component depends on the environment where the component is placed.

The equivalent circuit parameters are extracted in closed form, from an accurate measurement of the board‐mounted SMD inductor S‐parameters, without the necessity for cumbersome optimization procedures, which normally follow the radio frequency circuit synthesis.

It this paper, a new adaptation test fixture in PCB technology is realized. It is modeled and it has provided the extraction of parameters (intrinsic and extrinsic) of SMD inductor with great accuracy.

Liquid encapsulation techniques have been used extensively in advanced semiconductor packaging, including applications of underfilling, cavity‐filling, and glob top encapsulation. Because of the advanced encapsulation materials and the automatic liquid dispensing equipment involved, it is very important to understand the encapsulation material characteristics, equipment characteristics, encapsulation process development techniques in order to achieve the encapsulation quality and reliability. In this paper, the authors will examine the various considerations in liquid encapsulation applications and address the concerns on material characterization, automatic liquid dispensing equipment/process characterization and the encapsulation quality and reliability. The discussions will be helpful for future material and process development of semiconductor packages.

Although rework is labour intensive and conflicts with most modern manufacturing/assembly philosophies, realistic defect levels in surface mount technology (SMT) printed circuit board (PCB) assembly render rework indispensable on the shop floor. Most commercially available rework tools are manual or require very skilled operators for their efficient operation. The challenges of automating SMD rework are significant because the tools, their specifications and rework processes required are not fully understood, and the impact of rework processes on assembly quality and reliability are hotly debated. This paper describes an automated robotic rework cell for SMD and TH boards, and the method used for process characterisation of the solder paste dispensing system. The paper also describes equipment selection, the integration and interfacing of the dispensing equipment to the cell controller and the process characterisation experiments.

Soldering technologies continue to evolve to meet the demands of the continuous miniaturisation of electronic products, particularly in the area of solder paste formulations used in the reflow soldering of surface mount devices. Stencil printing continues to be a leading process used for the deposition of solder paste onto printed circuit boards (PCBs) in the volume production of electronic assemblies, despite problems in achieving a consistent print quality at an ultra‐fine pitch. In order to eliminate these defects a good understanding of the processes involved in printing is important. Computational simulations may complement experimental print trials and paste characterisation studies, and provide an extra dimension to the understanding of the process. The characteristics and flow properties of solder pastes depend primarily on their chemical and physical composition and good material property data is essential for meaningful results to be obtained by computational simulation.This paper describes paste characterisation and computational simulation studies that have been undertaken through the collaboration of the School of Aeronautical, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering at Salford University and the Centre for Numerical Modelling and Process Analysis at the University of Greenwich. The rheological profile of two different paste formulations (lead and lead‐free) for sub 100 micron flip‐chip devices are tested and applied to computational simulations of their flow behaviour during the printing process.