Case Study: BE CAE & Test achieves interactive SMD thermal characterization and streamlined client simulation workflows with COMSOL Multiphysics custom apps

BE CAE & Test - Customer Case Study

BE CAE & Test, an Italian simulation consultancy, needed a better way to deliver high-fidelity thermal models of surface-mount devices (SMDs) to clients so they could explore design variations without repeated consultant involvement. To address thermal management questions — like how solder material, solder thickness, and dissipated power affect maximum junction temperature and junction-to-case thermal resistance — BE CAE & Test used Comsol Multiphysics and the Application Builder from vendor Comsol to package their expertise into a user-friendly tool.

BE CAE & Test implemented a custom Comsol app that lets clients modify parameters (solder thickness, material choices, operating power), generate a mesh, run the multiphysics heat-transfer simulation, visualize temperature distributions, and produce reports; a sample run used a 15 W heat source with the frame at 25°C. The Comsol-based app preserved model fidelity while enabling clients to perform parametric studies themselves, reducing repeat simulation requests, speeding decision-making, and freeing consultants to focus on adding modeling complexity rather than rerunning computations.

BE CAE & Test

Giuseppe Petrone

Co-Founder