Conducted as a roundtable discussion, the research brought together company founders and senior product directors from brands and 6SigmaET. Those involved included: Genevieve Martin, Competence Leader at Signify, Norbert Engelberts, Founder and Owner of Optimal Thermal Solutions, Ad Musters, Managing Director, Thal Technologies and Future Facilities’ 6SigmaET Product Manager, Chris Aldham.
With LED usage becoming more common, over the next few years the market is set to be worth in excess of $50bn, there are a number of challenges associated with their use, including thermal considerations.
According to the panel, the key trends shaping the LED industry in 2020 centre around the need to incorporate LEDs into increasingly compact designs that must be turned around in record time. These trends are driving a number of new thermal design priorities, with the most commonly identified including:
- Greater customisation due to LEDs entering increasingly niche markets
- Improved reliability in a wider variety of climates and environments, thanks to the growth in IoT applications.
- The need for faster thermal simulation tools that provide a higher rate of product optimisation – maximising the efficiency and flexibility of LEDs
Commenting, Chris Aldham, Product Manager at Future Facilities, said, “Working with such small components means today’s thermal simulation platforms must offer an exceptional level of accuracy to prevent overheating and produce reliable end products.
“For LED devices, everything depends on temperature, but temperature depends on everything else. It’s so interlinked that it’s impossible to look at it in isolation; the entire design process matters. As such, thermal management is vital to ensure that every element of a design is optimised.”
Commenting on the panel's priorities in 2020, Ad Musters said, “In 2020, I believe we’re going to see a rise in customisation and LEDs entering increasingly niche markets. It’s going to be crucial we look at these specialised applications from a thermal perspective.”
Norbert Engelberts added, “The benefit of the IoT is that we can combine experimental testing with simulation tools, so we can really get a good idea of how LED products work in reality. That is something to take advantage of going forward.”
“From my team’s perspective at Signfy, in 2020 we will look to provide insights at a faster rate and optimise our products as efficiently as possible,” concluded Genevieve Martin. “Deploying new working methods and tools is an essential part of this process, with simulation a high priority.”
With LED devices being deployed in more extreme conditions, accurately predicting heat dissipation is become ever more important and thermal simulation gives a unique visual representation of the airflow and temperature inside equipment, allowing engineers to make better decisions when it comes to offsetting heat, and helping them to design effective cooling systems, balancing performance and cost.
Future Facilities has released the key findings of the discussion as an e-book that LED engineers can use to compare, enhance and streamline their own design processes.
To download a copy, use the link below.
