{"id":135,"date":"2022-10-10T12:39:41","date_gmt":"2022-10-10T10:39:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/test.pcbinvestigator.de\/en\/?page_id=135"},"modified":"2025-09-09T15:22:54","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T13:22:54","slug":"physics-thermal-analysis-current-simulation","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.pcb-investigator.com\/en\/features\/developer-tools\/physics-thermal-analysis-current-simulation\/","title":{"rendered":"Physics (Thermal Analysis \/ Current Simulation)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table edition-table is-style-stripes\" style=\"font-size:14px\"><table class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcb-investigator.com\/en\/pcb-investigator\/basic\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"27\">BASIC<\/a><\/strong><\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcb-investigator.com\/en\/pcb-investigator\/ultimate\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"29\">ULTIMATE<\/a><\/strong><\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcb-investigator.com\/en\/pcb-investigator\/fabrication\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"31\">FABRICATION<\/a><\/strong><\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcb-investigator.com\/en\/pcb-investigator\/production-control\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"34\">PRODUCTION CONTROL<\/a><\/strong><\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcb-investigator.com\/en\/pcb-investigator\/developer\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"36\">DEVELOPER<\/a><\/strong><\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcb-investigator.com\/en\/pcb-investigator\/physics\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"38\">PHYSICS<\/a><\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\"><\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\"><\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\"><\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\"><\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\"><\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">\u2713<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-text-color\" style=\"color:#626466;font-size:16px\"><strong>Simulate the physical behavior of PCBs with our PCB Investigator Physics plug-in!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pcb-investigator.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Physics_Blog.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-951\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group el-blockquote-img\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p><strong>PCB-Investigator Physics<\/strong> is the perfect tool to simulate the<strong> physical behavior <\/strong>of PCBs during the development phase.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>In this way, <strong>thermal hotspots<\/strong>, <strong>critical line resistances<\/strong> and <strong>excessive voltage drops<\/strong> can be identified, found and remedied even before the first prototype!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:0px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>With the built-in editing functions of PCB-Investigator Physics, it is even possible to <strong>optimize<\/strong> the layout or layer structure to achieve the best physical behavior with just a few clicks!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"text-decoration:underline\"><strong>Save valuable time and prototype costs with PCBi-Physics!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To obtain information about the physical behavior of a PCB during operation, PCB-Investigator Physics offers you the following simulations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list el-padding-left-30\">\n<li>The <strong>temperature increase<\/strong> triggered by the power dissipation of the components and high currents<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <strong>current density<\/strong>, e.g. in copper constrictions or in boreholes<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <strong>voltage loss<\/strong> and the line resistance between any pins on the printed circuit board<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Animation of the actual current flow direction<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Starting with version V10 you are now able to perform <strong>transient simulations<\/strong>!<br>So you can find out <strong>how the PCB heats up or cools down over time<\/strong>! Time-dependent switching states and power losses, so-called operating states, are also taken into account (see video tutorial #6).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All simulation results can be saved as an <strong>interactive HTML report <\/strong>for documentation.<br>An example of such a report can be found at the links at the end of the page<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-background\" style=\"background:linear-gradient(135deg,rgba(252,185,0,0.69) 0%,rgba(163,7,7,0.93) 100%);font-size:15px\"><strong>Welcome to the new world of simulation &#8211; with PCB-Investigator Physics!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.elektronikpraxis.de\/waermemanagement\/articles\/536292\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Thermal simulation already during printed circuit board layout<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:38px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>System Recommendation:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list el-padding-left-30\">\n<li>CPU: Intel i5\/i7\/i9<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>RAM: minimum 16GB, better would be 32GB (*)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>GPU: Optional, but a GPU simulation is up to 12x faster than on the CPU (**).\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>NVIDIA Graphics Card with CUDA 5.0 or higher (<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/developer.nvidia.com\/cuda-gpus\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/developer.nvidia.com\/cuda-gpus<\/a>)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We recommend at least 768 CUDA cores, 2560 or more are better.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Minimum 4GB graphics card memory, 8GB or more would be better (*)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>(*<em>) the required memory strongly depends on the number of layers, the PCB size and the chosen simulation resolution (<\/em>**) we achieved fantastic performance results with an NVIDIA Geforce GTX 1080 and an NVIDIA Geforce GTX 1080 TI<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:34px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-4 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcb-investigator.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/PCB_Current_Density_Simulation_Net.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-id=\"943\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pcb-investigator.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/PCB_Current_Density_Simulation_Net-1024x611.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-943\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcb-investigator.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/PCB_Physics_3D.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-id=\"947\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pcb-investigator.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/PCB_Physics_3D-1024x575.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-947\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcb-investigator.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/PCB_Thermal_Analysis.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-id=\"945\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pcb-investigator.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/PCB_Thermal_Analysis-1024x610.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-945\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcb-investigator.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/PCB_Voltage_Drop_Simulation_Net.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-id=\"944\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pcb-investigator.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/PCB_Voltage_Drop_Simulation_Net-1024x610.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-944\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:38px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button has-custom-width wp-block-button__width-100\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-text-color has-background\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcb-investigator.com\/en\/download-pcb-investigator\/\" style=\"border-radius:5px;background-color:#eaebef;color:#252d5c\">Download PCB-Investigator with all plug-ins for free testing &gt;&gt;<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:57px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<p style=\"font-size:17px\"><strong><mark style=\"background-color:#abb8c3\" class=\"has-inline-color\">Downloads\/Links<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcb-investigator.com\/sites\/default\/files\/documents\/WhitePaper_PHYSICS.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.pcb-investigator.com\/sites\/default\/files\/documents\/WhitePaper_PHYSICS.pdf\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u00bb Whitepaper<\/a><br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcb-investigator.com\/sites\/default\/files\/plugins\/files\/Example_Images.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u00bb Example Images<\/a><br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcb-investigator.com\/sites\/default\/files\/documents\/Physics_Transient_Report.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u00bb Physics &#8211; Report<\/a><br><a href=\"https:\/\/manual.pcb-investigator.com\/pages\/pcb_thermal_simulation_current_simulation_physics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u00bb PCBI Manual | Thermal Simulation &amp; Current Simulation (Physics) <\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:17px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group el-table-with-padding has-very-light-gray-to-cyan-bluish-gray-gradient-background has-background\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p><strong>Here you can find our PCB-Investigator Physics videos:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list el-table-with-padding\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=x9Y2xIGXVBE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Tutorial 1: How to use PCB Investigator Physics<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=8rm1954O2L0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Tutorial 2: How do I improve the thermal behavior by using other materials?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=dYj2VlySTcc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Tutorial 3: How do I improve the thermal behavior by changing the copper structure and adding vias?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=TJOuYvmZOqI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Tutorial 4: How do I improve thermal performance with component heat sinks?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=EUpA3HtPjSI\" target=\"_blank\">Tutorial 5: How do I improve the thermal performance by adding an aluminum plate on the bottom (InsulatedMetal Substrate (IMS))?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=y7Q5UGt1TVk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Tutorial 6: Time-dependent transient simulation with different operating states<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_mDVDZAIagU\" target=\"_blank\">Tutorial 7: PinBridges &amp; EasyLogix Part Library<\/a><br>(This plug-in is only available in PCB Investigator Physics Edition! <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcb-investigator.com\/en\/get-help-and-support\/\">Contact us<\/a> for a free trial version!)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BASIC ULTIMATE FABRICATION PRODUCTION CONTROL DEVELOPER PHYSICS \u2713 Simulate the physical behavior of PCBs with our PCB Investigator Physics plug-in! PCB-Investigator Physics is the perfect tool to simulate the physical behavior of PCBs during the development phase. In this way, thermal hotspots, critical line resistances and excessive voltage drops can be identified, found and remedied [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":255,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[66,56,17,57,72],"class_list":["post-135","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","tag-analysis","tag-design-review","tag-physics","tag-report","tag-simulation","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pcb-investigator.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pcb-investigator.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pcb-investigator.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcb-investigator.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcb-investigator.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcb-investigator.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/135\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3378,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcb-investigator.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/135\/revisions\/3378"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcb-investigator.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pcb-investigator.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcb-investigator.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcb-investigator.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}