Apply Inlet/Outlet Flow Conditions

Define the boundary conditions of the CPU chip inlet and outlet.

You use a fan boundary condition to simulate the effects of adding an intake or exhaust fan to a simulation. This condition provides an easy method for adding air flow to a simulation. You use a pressure outlet to describe the static pressure at an opening where fluid flows out of a region.

In this example, you first apply a fan boundary condition to represent the source of the air flow that cools the CPU board. The inlet is the round vent above the heat sink. You use the provided spreadsheet to populate pressure values for the fan boundary. You then apply a pressure outlet at each of the 10 rectangular vents at the ends of the model. This represents static pressure at the locations where the air flow exits the CPU board.

  1. From the Fans section of the action bar, click Intake/Exhaust Fan .
  2. Select the circular glyph of the round opening above the heat sink as the geometry support.
  3. Select Fan curve as the Pressure jump.
  4. Right click the table and select Import.
  5. Navigate to the location of the EXAMPLE-EnclosureCHT-FanPressureProfile.xlsx spreadsheet.

    This spreadsheet is included in the Knowledge Base article Sample Data: Conjugate Heat Transfer in a Fan-Cooled CPU Board.

  6. Select the spreadsheet and click Open.
    The Pressure jump data table is populated.
  7. Click OK.
  8. From the Boundaries section of the action bar, click Pressure Outlet .
  9. Select the circular glyphs of the five small openings on each side of the enclosure as the geometry supports, and click OK.
  10. Accept the default parameters for the Static gauge pressure.
  11. Click OK.