Hi,

I am facing some difficulties regarding simulation of thermal gap pads. In my model I have a CPU cooled towards an aluminium cooling profile. Between the CPU and the cooling profile I have a 1,5 mm thick gap pad compressed to 1 mm. The gap pad is made up of silicon and rubber, and the data sheet gives only thermal conductivity and density of the material but does not address specific heat etc. which Flow Simulation material definition requires.

Here is the material data sheet link:

http://www.bergquistcompany.com/pdfs/dataSheets/PDS_GP_1500_12.08_E.pdf

I had a look at a similar problem in another tread where it was suggested to suppress the pad, rearrange the assembly and use contact resistance instead. The pad is fairly thick in my model (1 mm), so this seems like an wrong approach?

What is the correct way to model/simulate this scenario? According to the help feature in Solidworks it seem like Floworks uses only the thermal conductivity and the thickness of the pad to simulate. If that is the case, how come I have to enter the specific heat in the material definition?

All suggestions are highly appreciated!

Best regards

Erik