HFSS simulation, experimental investigation and optimisation of heat sink EMI

Abstract

This study presents the approach for the minimisation of electromagnetic radiation from the heat sink by optimising the heat sink geometry parameters using Taguchi's design of experiments (DOE) technique. The heat sink is modelled using Ansoft HFSS software version 12 and the value of the emitted radiation is obtained by simulation. Experimental investigation was performed in a semi-anechoic chamber for a selected heat sink to observe the radiated emissions from it at a distance of 3 m. The simulation model was thus validated with the experimental results and hence, the simulation was continued for the combinations generated by the L27 (six factors, three levels) orthogonal array generated using Taguchi's DOE using the Minitab software. The factors considered for optimisation are the length and width of the heat sink, fin height, base height, number of fins and fin thickness. The analysis of variance test was carried out for finding out the contribution and impact of each heat sink design factor towards the radiations emitted by the heat sink. Additionally, a decision support for selecting the heat sink parameters for predicting the emitted radiations has been presented using the linear regression analysis and the results are compared with HFSS simulation results.