New Development by HSE Scientists Helps Design Reliable Electronics Faster at a Lower Cost
Scientists from HSE MIEM have developed a new approach to modelling electrothermal processes in high-power electronic circuits on printed circuit boards (PCB). The method allows engineers to quickly and accurately predict how electronic components heat up during operation, helping prevent overheating and potential failures. The results have been published in Russian Microelectronics.
When electric motors or other equipment operate, their electronic components—especially transistors—can become very hot, because heat is inevitably generated as electric current flows through them. When the device is switched on and off, sudden temperature changes occur, which alter the parameters of the transistors and may ultimately lead to equipment failure.
To prevent this, it is important to accurately predict how an electronic component will heat up and cool down under real operating conditions. This makes it possible to properly design the device and its cooling system, reduce the load on individual components, and extend the service life of the equipment.
Today, engineers use two main approaches to predict equipment overheating. The first is detailed numerical 3D modelling of thermal processes using software packages such as Ansys, Flotherm, and COMSOL, among others. This method provides high accuracy but requires significant computing resources and time. The second approach involves calculations in SPICE simulators using simplified thermal models of components and cooling conditions. While faster, it requires time to develop electrothermal models and does not always account for the actual design features of the PCB and the cooling system.
The scientists proposed combining the advantages of both methods: they developed a multilevel automated system in which the COMSOL package is used to model semiconductor devices together with their housings and refine the thermal models of component packages; SPICE is employed to analyse the electrical circuit, including both electrical and thermal descriptions; and ASONIKA-TM is used to simulate the heating of the PCB and calculate component temperatures. Additionally, the researchers developed special software tools that automate the calculation of component capacitances and transfer data on component temperatures between different calculation modules. This means that additional modules were used to link previously separate software packages, speeding up the calculations. As a result, the process of creating electrothermal models of high-power components for electrothermal simulations became five to ten times faster compared to manual construction of electrothermal circuits.
The scientists at HSE MIEM tested the new technique on a real PCB design for controlling a power stepper motor, a device that regulates the motor’s rotational speed. The board contains high-power MOSFET transistors, which become very hot during operation. The results of the thermal modelling were compared with thermal imaging measurements and showed a close match.
Igor Kharitonov
'We have observed in practice that our calculations closely match real thermal imaging measurements. This means that the methodology works correctly and can be applied to real engineering tasks,' concluded Igor Kharitonov, Professor at HSE MIEM and co-author of the study.
According to Prof. Kharitonov, such calculations previously required lengthy manual adjustments and a significant investment of time.
'Now we can predict when the board will overheat five to ten times faster and promptly adjust the design and cooling conditions, all while reducing development costs,' he emphasised.
The new technique enables engineers to identify design weaknesses more quickly, optimise cooling systems, and improve equipment reliability. This is particularly important for industrial machinery, power electronics, transportation, and other systems where component failure can have serious consequences.
The study was carried out as part of HSE University's 'Digital Transformation: Technologies, Effects, and Performance' project under the Priority 2030 programme.
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