Visualize flow and temperature with iso surfaces in an electronics enclosure model

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To create an iso surface, on the Results tab, Results Tasks panel, select Iso Surfaces.

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On the Iso Surfaces context panel, click Add.

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If the casing is not showing, you can restore it by pressing CTRL and middle-clicking anywhere off the model.

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Note that the iso surface has a uniform value, which means it shows the places in the model that have the same value for temperature.

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For a more informative view, you can change this value.

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On the Iso Surfaces context panel, click Edit.

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In the Iso Surface Control dialog, drag the slider to the desired value.

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The iso surface is very useful for locating the min and max temperatures.

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To combine the flow and temperature results into a single view, change the Quantity to Velocity Magnitude.

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This shows the temperature (the Color by result) everywhere a particular value of velocity magnitude occurs (the Iso quantity).

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Drag the slider to change the value of velocity magnitude displayed.

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In this case, drag it to the left to view more of the low-velocity flow.

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To show vectors on the plot, select the Vector settings tab, expand the Results drop-down and select Velocity Vector.

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The resulting 3D electronic cooling simulation tells you that, after flowing over the transformer and capacitors,

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the air impinges on the back wall of the enclosure.

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Also, the moving air removes heat from the components before flowing over the chips.

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You can see that the flow barely removes enough heat

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from the small chips to keep their temperature below the safety threshold of 60° C.

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You now have a thorough understanding of the effects of the flow field and temperature distribution on your electronics enclosure model.