The application of commercial and noncommercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) programs to systems relevant to electronics is reviewed. The following commercial programs are discussed: THEBES, FLOTHERM, FLUENT, FLOTRAN, FIDAP/ICEPAK, CFX 4 (formerly CFDS-FLOW3D), PHOENICS/HOTBOX, and STAR-CD. Notably, of the noncommercial programs, work utilizing a spectral element program originating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is described. General thermofluid capabilities, user friendliness, and other peripheral aspects, such as the modeling of thermal stress/strain and dust transport are assessed. For all comparisons with measurements, agreement was found to be within 30%. No commercial CFD program appeared to be clearly superior for all applications, but FLOTHERM had the most use for realistic cooling design problems.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Paul G. Tucker (1997) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched one closely related paper. Consider it for comparative context: