Nonlinear Circuit Card Thermal Analysis

This project was a great introduction to nonlinear FEA and circuit cooling analyses. Using ABAQUS, a circuit card assembly was analyzed. The card had two internal circuits and a CPU that all generated heat. After researching how circuit cards cool and understanding the architecture better, my knowledge of the subject made me realize that the behavior would be nonlinear. Usually, for linear FEA, interpolation can be used to find the ideal values for a system, but the nonlinear characteristics of this model made it much harder. An algorithm from Heat Transfer fundamentals had to be created and mapped. This was a challenging, rewarding problem which was presented to a group of engineering professors. It honed my skills of presentations, ABAQUS, Solidworks, Heat Transfer, and thermodynamics.