Happy New Year and welcome to Vicor News 14! This issue has details on two new Bus Conversion Modules, an interesting solar-powered boat application and a technical tip on forced-air cooling. There’s also another competition, giving you a chance to win a £15 Amazon voucher.
Andy Gales, VP International Sales
10-11 February
London, UK
Southern Manufacturing & Electronics Exhibition
11-12 February
Farnborough, UK
31 March - 3 April
Warsaw, Poland
12-14 May
Nuremburg, Germany
26-28 May
Lille, France
To meet us at an event,
please contact us at
europe@vicorpower.com
Forced air cooling can make a significant difference to thermal management, improving the heatsink-to-air thermal resistance by as much as an order of magnitude with the right combination of hardware. Making the right choices, however, means interpreting and matching the convection data for both the heatsink and the fan.
The first step is to calculate the maximum heatsink-to-air thermal resistance for the system: next, the operating airflow through the heatsink is determined. Airflow from the fan, expressed in cubic feet per minute (CFM), is plotted against the curve for pressure drop, shown in inches of water. The intersection between the airflow curve for the heatsink and the pressure drop curve for the fan determines the operating airflow through the heatsink (see figure 1)
Only the airflow through the cross-sectional area between the fins of the heatsink should be used to calculate the operating airflow. However, if the estimated thermal resistance is close to minimum value, then a larger fan should be specified.
Additional tips and techniques for using forced-air cooling with Vicor converters can be found in the below links:
Thermal and Module Mounting Considerations
Thermal Performance Information
Thermal Considerations: Assuring Performance OF Vicor’s Maxi, Mini, Micro Series High-Density DC-DC Converter Modules
Thermal Calculations
Figure 1 Airflow vs. resistance
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You can shrink the volume of your power supply system by up to 75% with new ultra-compact 48V:12V ‘half-chip’ (1/32nd brick) Bus Converter Module (BCM™) designed for non-isolated POL applications. The VIB0101THJ delivers 94.5% efficiency and power density of 840 W/in3 as well as saving space, cutting costs and increasing reliability by reducing external capacitor requirements.
Increase efficiency and reduce space requirements for HV DC power distribution applications such as data centres. The new Bus Conversion Module (BCM™) from V•I Chip Corporation provides 330 W power for down-stream loads in a space-saving 1/16th brick footprint. The innovative VIB0002TFJ converts 380 Vdc to a standard 48 Vdc rail with a high power density of 1,150 W/in3 and over 95% efficiency.
Vicor DC-DC converters are being used to provide solar power for a 25-metre sight-seeing boat. The Vicor modules were the only ones which, when mounted in series, were able to convert the 24 V input voltage into that required by the drive battery. The modules also provide a 24V output for a second battery to power the boat’s lighting and audio system.
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Understanding
forced-air cooling
Win an Amazon gift voucher!
For a chance to win one of three £15 Amazon vouchers simply answer the following question on a product featured in this email:
What is the nominal output power of the VIB0101THJ BCM™?
Email your answer to europe@vicorpower.com
