Thermal resistance

 

The thermal resistance is a physical quantity and the reciprocal of the thermal conductivity. For heat-critical projects you may possibly need the total thermal resistance of your metal core PCBs.

It is composed of the thickness-dependent individual resistances of:

  • Copper
  • Insulation
  • Aluminium

You can select the thickness when calculating your metal core PCB in the PCB calculator.
Below you can calculate the total thermal resistance:

Calculator for thermal resistance

Thermal conductivity
Thermal resistance
W/mk
K/W
µm
Copper thickness
µm
Insulation thickness
mm
Aluminium thickness
Total thermal resistance (Rth)

Example

If you use the good Multi-CB standard specifications (35μm Cu, 100μm insulation with 2W / mK and 1.5mm aluminum thickness) the total thermal resistance is 0.6080 K/W.

I.e. per 1W power dissipation, a temperature difference of approx. 0.61 Kelvin (= 0.61 ° C) arises.

Additional information