AMNYTT amnytt.no 7/2020 | Page 156

Patrick Hartmann is an expert for thermal management in housing construction

Heat is becoming an increasingly important factor in the development of electrical devices . More and more power is being accommodated in ever-smaller housings , and yet the components still have to function reliably for years . Microscopic climate research – Patrick Hartmann is a member of a department responsible for the development and production of plastic housings .

Electronics in a tight corset “ Plastic simply has an enormous number of advantages as a housing material ,” explains the 29-year-old engineer . “ It is light , insulated , easy to machine , and offers much more design freedom than metal .” No wonder that housing production has a long tradition at Phoenix Contact .
But plastic has two serious disadvantages . It conducts heat very poorly and is heat-sensitive . “ So what ?” some of you who are not technically minded may ask . It shouldn ’ t matter , because there are only electronic components inside the housing . “ But they are also sensitive to heat ,” explains the likeable expert patiently . “ Capacitors can dry out , CPUs overheat , the service life of components can drop , or entire systems and production lines can stop operating . In the worst case , there is the threat of open fire . Just think of certain models from a Korean mobile phone manufacturer which even led to flight bans .”
What temperatures are we talking about ? “ While 60 ° C can be reached quickly in a normal control cabinet , the
temperatures in housings are considerably higher . It ’ s not uncommon for temperatures of 85 to 90 ° C to be reached .”
Factoring heat out Patrick Hartmann knows exactly what he ’ s talking about . Even when he was a dual student , he worked on thermal management in plastic housings in his master ’ s thesis . “ Ever more powerful processors and components are installed in ever-smaller housings . This trend is continuing unabated , and will even continue to spread through all areas of industry and electronics in the context of 5G and embedded systems .”
In the large control cabinet , the issue of heat is still relatively easy to solve . “ You simply mount all components that emit a lot of heat toward the top . If there is any doubt , a ventilation system can be installed to dissipate the heat .” The problem when designing housings , however , is that space much tighter , and therefore the power density is higher . And the cost pressure is much greater . Therefore , it is necessary to provide protection against the heat emission differently in a tightly enclosed plastic housing . “ Here , you have to know exactly where heat is generated . And then either plan ventilation slots , reposition components , or use heatsinks to dissipate the heat .”
Which brings us nicely to the Blomberg expert ’ s special
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UPDATE 6 / 20 The Phoenix Contact innovation magazine