Two-Dimensional Thermal Modeling and Parametric Optimization of Printed Circuit Board Vias

This paper proposes an analytical thermal resistance model for printed circuit board (PCB) vias considering both the vertical- and radial-directional heat transfers. A lumped two-dimensional (2D) thermal resistance network is developed, and a numerical algorithm is proposed to simplify this network. Based on this proposed thermal model, the impacts of different design parameters on the equivalent thermal resistances of the PCB vias are easily investigated, yielding design guidelines for PCB vias. Finally, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation results validate the developed 2D thermal model.