Electronics

Nonlinear Heat Transfer Finite Element Analysis of a Disk Drive Housing Assembly

A heat transfer analysis of a removable (magnetic storage) disk drive cartridge and receptacle was carried out in order to estimate peak internal component temperatures for low pressure and vacuum environments (i.e. high altitude and space applications).

The first phase of the study was a fully nonlinear steady state heat transfer finite element analysis of the disk drive cartridge and receptacle to estimate the cartridge case temperature under an assumed internal heat dissipation rate. This study was nonlinear because the primary modes of heat transfer in the case/receptacle system are radiation from the disk drive cartridge and receptacle surfaces to space, and heat transfer between the disk drive cartridge case and the receptacle.

In the second phase, thermal resistances for significant modes of heat transfer among the disk drive internal components and disk drive case were estimated. Using these thermal resistance estimates, and the computed disk drive cartridge case temperature from the first phase thermal analysis, a simple thermal network model of the disk drive and receptacle system was constructed and employed to determine estimates of peak temperatures in critical internal components.