Coupled simulation provides multi-domain analysis of thermal, mechanical and electrical performance

Product reliability has long been the concern of the aerospace and medical industries where failure in the field can have catastrophic consequences. These products must demonstrate readiness to operate under the harsh conditions of extreme temperatures and/or power levels without serious performance degradation. In the past, accessing the reliability of a particular component has been the responsibility of the design engineer working closely with specialized test engineering to replicate realistic field conditions. This approach is costly, extremely time consuming and prone to inadequate identification of likely failure mechanisms. Recent developments in simulation technology now allow engineers to investigate the cause of component breakdown as it relates to heat, stress and exposure to excessive power. By coupling thermal, mechanical and electrical analyses into a multi-domain simulation, the inter-relationships between these properties can be accounted for. This article examines how these coupled technologies work; how they improve simulation accuracy and some of the applications where multi-domain analysis makes a comprehensive reliability study feasible and practical.