Study on the fluid-structure interaction of flexible printed circuit board motherboard in personal computer casings

Purpose - The flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) can be an alternative to the rigid printed circuit board because of its excellent flexibility, twistability, and light weight. Using FPCB to construct personal computer (PC) motherboard is still rare. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the fluid-structure interaction (FSI) behaviors of the newly proposed FPCB motherboard under fan-flow condition in the PC casings.Design methodology approach - The deflection and stress induced, which are usually ignored in the traditional rigid motherboard, are the main concern in the current FPCB motherboard studies. Only a few studies have been conducted on the effect of inlet locations, effect of inlet sizes, effect of multi-inlets, and effect of a two-fan system. These numerical analyses are performed using the fluid flow solver FLUENT and the structural solver ABAQUS; they are real-time online coupled by Mesh-based Parallel Code Coupling Interface (MpCCI).Findings - A smaller inlet size can cause higher deflection and stress fluctuations, but the fluctuations can be reduced by incorporating the multi-inlets design. In addition, the inlet locations and two-fan system can prominently affect the magnitudes of the deflection and stress induced.Practical implications - The current study provides better understanding and allows designers to be aware of the FSI phenomenon when dealing with the FPCB motherboard. Although the present study primarily focuses on the motherboard, the findings could also contribute valuable information for other FPCB applications.Originality value - The present study extends the FSI investigation from the previous novel approach of FPCB motherboard, and uniquely explores the behaviors of the FPCB motherboard inside different PC casings.