| Company: |
Macrolink |
| Industry: |
Ruggedized Electronics |
| Application: |
Falcon 5 ATR |
| MCAD System: |
Autodesk Inventor |
George Hendershot and the product development team at Macrolink use CFdesign to conduct early-stage flow and thermal analyses on ruggedized electronics enclosures for avionic, mobile and fixed applications. They engineer rugged ATR chassis, COTS chassis, portable rugged workstations and SCSI & Fibre Channel storage systems to meet the most demanding environmental requirements
"What the tool does for us is really key," explains Hendershot. "It helps us determine the placement of the fans, the type of fans, the location of the card cage, the density of the air filter, and EMI ventilation panels. We get to do all that sizing up front in the process."
A recent project for the Navy involved the creation of an Air Transport Rack (ATR), which would house a radar system for Navy ships. As the unit developed, Sam Suh, senior mechanical engineer at Macrolink, optimized the thermal characteristics of the system by using CFdesign to rapidly assess numerous design modifications within the MCAD environment. The simulation provided Suh interactive 3D visualization of airflow as it enters the box, flows through the card cage and circulates through the system, including the effects of cables and other system components.
Next, Suh ran a number of simulations on the individual slots to determine the proper opening size of the card cage. When CFdesign results revealed a few hot spots, he made adjustments to his MCAD assembly and used CFdesign to prove the airflow had been effectively increased and operating temperatures reduced. "With CFdesign I can manipulate the air flow and optimize the design long before I cut any metal," explains Suh. "Knowing how many watts per slot, I can control the airflow distribution much better."
Suh believes one of CFdesign's strongest benefits is its tight integration with Autodesk Inventor. He says he had previous experience using a traditional CFD package that required him to employ file translation methods on his solid models, an error-prone process, to get geometry into the analysis environment.
CFdesign has not only improved the product development process at Macrolink, it is having significant impact on the way business is done. "CFdesign is integral to our process for partnering with customers," says Hendershot. "Even in the proposal stage, we're doing things like sizing up fans and looking for power supplies. CFdesign is a phenomenal asset for us."
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