Compare Ansys Sherlock vs. Thermal Desktop

Ansys Sherlock stands out as the sole reliability physics-based tool for electronics design that delivers quick and precise life expectancy assessments for electronic components, boards, and systems during the initial design phases. By automating the design analysis process, Ansys Sherlock enables the rapid generation of life predictions, thus eliminating the "test-fail-fix-repeat" cycle that often hampers development. Designers can effectively model the interactions between silicon–metal layers, semiconductor packaging, printed circuit boards (PCBs), and assemblies, allowing for accurate predictions of potential failure risks stemming from thermal, mechanical, and manufacturing stresses, all prior to creating prototypes. Additionally, Sherlock's extensive libraries, which house over 500,000 components, facilitate the seamless transformation of electronic computer-aided design (ECAD) files into computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and finite element analysis (FEA) models. Each of these models is equipped with precise geometries and material properties, ensuring that stress information is accurately conveyed for reliable predictions. This capability not only enhances design efficiency but also significantly reduces the risk of costly errors in the later stages of product development.

Thermal Desktop encompasses every facet of creating models, integrating various built-in objects like finite difference, finite element, and lumped capacitance that can be arranged in numerous ways. Users can incorporate thermal-specific components such as contact conductance, insulation, heat loads, and heaters, enabling the modeling of a wide range of systems from automotive parts to crewed spacecraft. The software features comprehensive parameterization, allowing input through variables and complex expressions instead of fixed numerical values. These variables, known as symbols, facilitate swift adjustments to models with minimal effort, simplifying the process of updating or maintaining them, as well as conducting sensitivity analyses and exploring hypothetical scenarios. Furthermore, this capability enhances access to SINDA/FLUINT’s modules for optimization and reliability, along with automated model correlation, ultimately enriching the modeling experience. By streamlining these processes, Thermal Desktop not only improves efficiency but also fosters innovation in thermal analysis.