In recent years, as electronic components have become smaller and more powerful, more complex designs are required, and design methods that consider the coupling of multiple physical phenomena are needed. In general, electronic lines should have a structure with low electrical resistivity and high heat conductivity. The general-purpose solver in computer aided engineering (CAE) supports various physical problems, such as structure, heat, electricity, and fluids. A lot of CAE software have also a feature of topology optimization. However, the optimization function has been limited regarding physical problems, materials, and objective functions that can be applied. In this study, a multi-physics topology optimization program for electronic lines was developed in combination with general-purpose finite element method (FEM) simulation software. A coupled analysis of steady-state electronic current and heat conduction problem with the effect of Joule heat was considered. And we created to modify the model shape based on the calculation results of electronic potential and temperature. The numerical calculations to verify the program were carried out on a simple L-shaped geometric model. The optimized electronic line structure was designed to minimize electrical resistivity and maximize heat conductivity. The optimized structure showed the material placement that connects the fixed electronic potential part and the input electronic current part in the shortest possible way.
Miura et al. (Wed,) studied this question.