Sauna V4.41 User Manual Exercises

This page provides essential tutorial exercises from the Sauna User Manual. In general, it is best to use Sauna with the manual at your side. But if you have misplaced your manual for one reason or another, the page provides a useful resource.

To find information about a specific topic, start by searching the pdf version of the index, which is available through the Windows Start menu. Once you know the page number, just scan the links below. The page number range is shown for each exercise. Note that a page number of "2-XX" is from an introductory exercise, "3-XX" is from an intermediate exercise and "4-XX" indicates a supplemental exercise. Of course, since the links below do not provide provide access to the entire manual, some topics are not covered.

Use <Ctrl>-f to search a pdf file.

Here are the links to all of the introductory exercises:

• Pages 2-1 to 2-4. Using Sauna's Menus. This brief exercise provides a detailed discussion of Sauna's user interface.
  
  
• Pages 2-5 to 2-24. Introductory Exercise 1: A Simple Finned Heat Sink. This tutorial shows how to model a simple finned heat sink.
  
  
• Pages 2-25 to 2-31. Introductory Exercise 2: Heat Sink What-If Modifications. In this exercise you will run through a series of design modifications, such as changing fin length, material, cooling mode, etc.
  
  
• Pages 2-32 to 2-43. Introductory Exercise 3: A Non-Uniform Heat Sink. A non-uniform heat sink is constructed from a series of plates. Edge joins are used for the first time.
  
  
• Pages 2-44 to 2-61. Introductory Exercise 4: Multi-Plates Boxes. A finned box is created and modified.
  
  
• Pages 2-62 to 2-93. Introductory Exercise 5: Basics Of Circuit Board Modeling. This exercise shows how to create both "planar" and "layer by layer" models of circuit boards, including "trace by trace" analysis.
  
  
• Pages 2-94 to 2-115. Introductory Exercise 6: Multi-Plate Box With Internal Board. This exercise covers the creation of a comprehensive box model, including internal convection and gray radiation.
  
  
• Pages 2-116 to 2-122.  Introductory Exercise 7: Calculating Air Flow For Fan-Cooled Heat Sinks. This exercise explains how to use Sauna's Toolbox to convert a volume flow (CFM or m³/hr) into a linear flow. You will also learn how to optimize fin spacing.
  
  
• Pages 2-123 to 2-126. Introductory Exercise 8: Modeling Errors. In this exercise you will learn how to avoid two common modeling errors.
  
  

Three key intermediate exercises are available:

• Pages 3-2 to 3-10. Intermediate Exercise 1: Superassemblies And Basic Slicing. This brief exercise explains the notion of "superassemblies", which are essential for creating complex models. The topic of slicing is also introduced.
  
  
• Pages 3-11 to 3-26. Intermediate Exercise 2: Stack Joins And Stackup Models. In this exercise you will start by learning about assembly mesh alignment. Then you will learn about stackup models, including a semiconductor chip on heat sink model.
  
  
• Pages 3-27 to 3-56. Intermediate Exercise 3: More On Circuit Board Modeling. You will learn the method for obtaining junction-to-lead-pad resistance, starting from the junction-to-ambient resistance found on a datasheet. Other topics include aligning to multiple heat sources, modeling a flip chip with heat sink, modifying internal board layers, and how to handle components which are not in Sauna's library.
  
  

One supplemental exercise is available:

• Pages 4-2 to 4-30. Supplemental Exercise 1: Transient And Duty Cycle Modeling. This exercise covers transient and duty cycle analysis. One of the topics covered is duty cycle scripting, where you can describe power vs. time curves of almost any complexity. There is also an excellent discussion of high frequency thermal effects.

As mentioned above, the links do not cover the entire user manual. So it's always best to have your manual close by.