Finite element analysis of microelectronic components-state of the art

The finite-element method has proven very effective in a variety of analyses in the electronics areas. As the components become more and more complex and are packed closer together in smaller volumes, the heat and vibration environments become more intense. Powerful general-purpose programs such as the ANSYS package that use the finite-element method provide engineers with a valuable simulation tool available on a wide range of computers, from PCs for linear statics and dynamics to supercomputers for 3-D fluid-flow analyses. The use of ANSYS is described for board-level simulation and analysis of free convection heat transfer in packaging.<<ETX>>