Heat Sink Design Basics

Solving the thermal equation given in the figure gives t 1 p d θ t 2.

Heat sink design basics.

One with heat pipes that stopped at the edge of the components and the other with heat pipes that ran above the components. Heat sink design basics are all about selecting the right geometry for a heat sink to affix to high power components which then needs to be paired with other cooling strategies. Heat sinks are used on a broad range of electronics ranging from cpus to motor drivers. A heat sink is a device that spreads heat from a small heat source to extended surfaces and thus improves the heat dissipation convection to the surroundings air water etc.

In this article we ll walk you through the basics of heat sinks and heat sink design including the calculations involved in defining the proper heat sink for your application. A heat sink also commonly spelled heatsink is a passive heat exchanger that transfers the heat generated by an electronic or a mechanical device to a fluid medium often air or a liquid coolant where it is dissipated away from the device thereby allowing regulation of the device s temperature. The performance of a heat sink can be improved by increasing the thermal conductivity of the material the surface area or the heat transfer coefficient. Analysis demonstrated that the design with heat pipes running above the components kept junction temperatures within 2 c of the original.

Ats engineers used analytical modeling and cfd simulations to examine the thermal performance of two aluminum heat sink designs. In computers heat sinks are used to cool cpus gpus and some chipsets and ram modules.