• Heat Sink Design

Heat Sink Design

The use of heat sink to increase the area of heat dissipation is the most common and basic method in thermal management technology. With the increasing trend of heating density of electronic devices, the demand for heat dissipation is increasing day by day, the difficulty of heat sink design is increasing, and the cost is increasing. Although heat sink new processes and design techniques continue to improve, the use of heat sinks in limited space seems to be reaching its limits. In the future, various cooling technologies such as water cooling, refrigeration cycle and immersion boiling cooling may be used to solve the heat dissipation problem. In spite of this, the heat sink is still the most economical and reliable way to dissipate heat. Therefore, in order to meet the demand of future electronic heat dissipation, the shape, materials and manufacturing process of the heat sink must be updated with new technology. In addition, the integration of other heat sink design methods can also increase the efficiency of application.

The heat sink design matters needing attention

The larger the surface area of heat sink, the better the cooling effect.

If the heat sink is placed to facilitate air circulation, the cooling effect can be improved.

Copper & aluminum has high thermal conductivity and is the first choice for heat sink materials.

Increasing the thickness of the heat sink is more effective than increasing its length.

Surface anodizing treatment, anti-oxidation corrosion, improve the radiation capacity, stable cooling effect.

The economic practicality of processing.

Performance comparison under the same cooling conditions

  1. Anodizied heat sinks have long service life, The no anodizied heat sinks have a short service life.
  2. Slotted heat sink has good heat dissipation, no slotted heat sink has poor heat dissipation.
  3. Good cooling effect with high density heat sink fin, low density (better with fan), Low density heat sink fin has poor cooling effect (good fan).
  4. High height of heat sink fin has good cooling effect (adding fan is better); Poor cooling effect with low height of heat sink fin (good with fan).
  5. The heat sink base thickness is thick, heat absorptiont is big, heat dissipating capacity is not necessarily, can be a bit better relatively. The heat sink base thickness is thin, heat absorption is small, heat dissipating capacity is not necessarily, relatively less.

Heat sink design principle

When the customers design heat sink , must consider the following factors.

Module operating current size, To determine the required cooling area.

Application environment, from which the cooling method can be determined -- natural cooling , forced air cooling , or liquid cooling.

The shape of the device, the volume, the size of the space reserved for the heat sink , according to which can determine the shape of the heat sink used 。 Generally speaking, most customers will choose aluminum heat sink.