Heat Sink Fins Design

In computers heat sinks are used to cool cpus gpus and some chipsets and ram modules.

Heat sink fins design.

A heat sink transfers the thermal energy generated by an electronic assembly or component into a cooling medium. In our experience it generally estimates the overall heat sink volume within 15 of a final design. However if h a p k is greater than 1 00 the fins will insulate and prevent heat flow. Cad model of a heat sink.

Heat sinks are typically made of aluminum or copper and have fins or pins that work to increase the surface area of the component to expedite the heat transfer to the surrounding fluid. Plate fin heat sink dimensions. The heat is transferred from a higher temperature region electronic component to a lower temperature region fluid medium by conduction. 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.

Figure 1 shows a typical plate fin heat sink used to cool common electrical and electronic components such as leds used in lighting applications mosfet used in digital circuits and microprocessors. Heat transfer design and engineering. The image below demonstrates both a fin right and a pin left type of heat sink. Heat transfer by convection of a heat sink with fins calculator and equations.

Heat sink design key considerations in heat sink design. Fins are used to increase heat transfer area and provide a cooling effect. The heat sink size calculator is based on a well established equation for estimating heat sink volume during the early stages of heat sink design.