Global Citizenship: Together for a Perfect PCB Solution
Smart Automation: Odd-form Assembly—Dedicated Insertion Equipment Matters
Nolan’s Notes: Everyone Has Their Eye on India
Thermal Management Update with Doug Brooks
January 22, 2018 | Andy Shaughnessy, PCBDesign007Estimated reading time: 1 minute
I had the opportunity to talk with our contributor Doug Brooks recently. He has been doing some research on temperature effects on PCB traces over the last few years, and I wanted to check the status of his latest thermal efforts. He discussed his work with Dr. Johannes Adam, why temperature charts based on a trace in isolation are inaccurate, and how the industry remained so wrong about PCB temperatures for so long.
Andy Shaughnessy: You have done some work on thermal management lately. How did that project start?
Doug Brooks: I wrote an article in the mid-‘90s on trace current/temperature effects, and I used two data sources: the then-current IPC data and some data I found in a 1968 Design News (DN) article. The DN temperatures were about 30% to 40% higher than the IPC temperatures and I wondered why. I began to suspect that it was because of the differences in the way the temperatures were measured or calculated. In looking for a way to confirm that hypothesis, I ran across an article about three years ago written by Dr. Johannes Adam in Germany, and I contacted Johannes.
It turns out that Johannes had written a computer simulation program called TRM (Thermal Risk Management) that was well suited for me to use to look at the data I had used in the article. He offered me a license for the software and we used TRM to simulate the IPC trace data in IPC-2152 and also the earlier data from DN. The simulations were very successful.
Shaughnessy: What did you find out?
Brooks: It turns out the DN data were unreliable!
Shaughnessy: And all of this took place over several years?
Brooks: No. That was just the beginning. It was so easy to simulate the IPC trace data that we began to simulate more realistic scenarios. The IPC data apply to a 6-inch trace in isolation. We began to look at what happens when we change things: change the length, change the pad sizes, add additional adjacent traces, add planes below the trace or on the other side of the board, more common layout conditions like those.
To read this entire article, which appeared in the December 2017 issue of The PCB Design Magazine, click here.
Share on:
Testimonial
"Our marketing partnership with I-Connect007 is already delivering. Just a day after our press release went live, we received a direct inquiry about our updated products!"
Rachael Temple - AlltematedSuggested Items
Building Electronics Excellence in India
09/08/2025 | Nolan Johnson, SMT007 MagazineFor over two decades, Dave Bergman has helped steer the Global Electronics Association’s work in India, from a single training course to a thriving regional operation with deep government and industry ties. In this interview, Dave explains how the group went from partnering with IPCA to opening its own office in 2010, creating India’s first domestic electronics manufacturing standard, and securing funding for dozens of Indian companies to attend U.S. trade shows.
New Podcast Episode Drop: MKS’ Atotech’s Role in Optimize the Interconnect
09/08/2025 | I-Connect007In this episode of On the Line With…, host Nolan Johnson sits down with Patrick Brooks, MKS' Atotech's Global Product Director, EL Systems, to discuss the critical role that wet processes play alongside laser systems in advancing the Optimize the InterconnectSM initiative. Brooks points to Bondfilm as a key example—a specialized coating that enables CO₂ lasers to ablate more effectively than ever before.
The Global Electronics Association Hosts Successful WorksAsia-AI and Factory of the Future Technical Seminar
09/03/2025 | Global Electronics AssociationOn August 22, 2025, the Global Electronics Association hosted the successful WorksAsia-AI and Factory of the Future Technical Seminar during the exhibition Automation Taipei 2025. The seminar brought together 81 representatives from 58 companies, focusing on the latest applications of AI in smart factories and unveiling four key directions that will drive the electronics industry’s transition toward intelligence and sustainability.
TRI's AI-Powered Inspection Solutions at SMTAI 2025
09/02/2025 | TRITest Research, Inc. (TRI), the leading provider of test and inspection systems, will be joining the SMTA International Exposition & Conference. The event will be held from October 21 – 23, 2025, at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL, USA.
More Than a Competition: Instilling a Champion's Skill in IPC Masters China 2025
09/01/2025 | Evelyn Cui, Global Electronics Association—East AsiaNearly 500 elite professionals from the electronics industry, representing 18 provinces and municipalities across China, competed in the 2025 IPC Masters Competition China, March 26–28, in Pudong, Shanghai. A total of 114 contestants advanced to the practical competition after passing the IPC Standards Knowledge Competition. Sixty people competed in the Hand Soldering and Rework Competition (HSRC), 30 in the Cable and Wire Harness Assembly Competition (CWAC), and 24 in the Ball Grid Array/Bottom Termination Components (BGA/BTC) Rework Competition.