Design considerations, Thermal management, Heat spreader dimensions – Kontron COMe-cTH6 User Manual
Page 41: 7design considerations, 1 thermal management, 2 heat spreader dimensions
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COMe-cTH6 User’s Guide
www.kontron.com
7
Design Considerations
7.1 Thermal Management
An optional heat spreader plate assembly is available from Kontron for the COMe-cTH6 module. The heat spreader
plate that fits on top of this assembly is NOT a heat sink. It works as a COM Express®-standard thermal interface to
be used with a heat sink or other cooling device.
External cooling must be provided to maintain the heat spreader plate at proper operating temperatures. Under
worst-case conditions, the cooling mechanism must maintain an ambient air and heat spreader plate temperature of
60 C or less.
The aluminum slugs and thermal pads on the underside of the heat spreader assembly implement thermal interfaces
between the heat spreader plate and the major heat-generating components on the COMe-cTH6 module. About 80
percent of the power dissipated within the module is conducted to the heat spreader plate and can be removed by
the cooling solution.
Kontron also has defined a passive heat sink that can be used in place of the heat spreader plate to provide
additional cooling. You can use many thermal-management solutions with the heat spreader plates, including active
and passive approaches. The optimum cooling solution varies, depending on the COM Express® application and
environmental conditions. Drawings for both the heat spreader plate and the passive heat sink are available on
request. Also, see the
PICMG COM Express® Design Guide
on the PICMG website for further information about thermal
management.
NOTE: The COMe-cTH6 module comes with mounting holes for securing the heat spreader or the heat sink to the
module.
7.2 Heat Spreader Dimensions
Documentation for the COMe-cTH6 COM heat spreader and cooling solutions is provided at
DRAFT COPY FOR REVIEW ONLY
DRAFT COPY FOR REVIEW ONLY