Development, validation and application of a thermal model of a plastic quad flat pack

A thermal model of a Plastic Quad Flat Pack (PQFP), developed using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) program is presented. The model predictions are validated with junction-to-ambient thermal resistances measured in still air and infra-red measurements of the package and board surface temperatures. An application of a modified version of the model to a laptop computer is demonstrated. The work forms part of a long term programme to create and validate generic thermal models of a range of electronic parts.