Members

• Nicolò Speciale
  
• Luca De Marchi

Project description

A full three dimensional finite element multi-physics simulation of the conjugate heat transfer for a gas sensing device, composed by a two-element array of Ultra Low Power (ULP) Metal Oxide Semiconductor (MOX) sensors, operated in a miniaturized sampling chamber has been performed with Femix.

The heat equation in a solid, the Poisson equation for the electric potential and the incompressible Navier-Stokes and energy equations for a fluid have been solved in a coupled manner. Validation of the simulation results has been performed comparing the simulated power dissipated by the array with a set of experimental data under different operating conditions.

Good agreement between the simulations and the experiments has been obtained. A small effect on the power dissipated by the sensor, in presence of volumetric fluxes in the sampling chamber, has been observed both numerically and experimentally.

Contact: Nicolo' Speciale > This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Collaborations

• CNR, Bologna - Istituto per la Microelettronica e Microsistemi
  

Software

Femix is an open source simulation tool for one, two and three-dimensional partial differential equations (PDEs). It can be used to solve either multiphysics models, like the conjugate heat transfer in complex geometries, or single models like the heat equation inside a solid body. This code has been developed in C++ allowing the user to implement in a simple and intuitive way its own set of equations. The current version of Femix is the 4.3 and it uses a Finite Element Method with linear basis as the core for the numerical solutions of the PDEs. Different models have already been implemented, ranging from the Compressible Navier-Stokes to the Hydrodynamic equations for electronic devices. More details and a copy of the code can be obtained by emailing Dr. Messina.

References

• See publications.