Heat Sink Design Basics

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.

Heat sink design basics. Heat sinks are used on a broad range of electronics ranging from cpus to motor drivers. Figure 3 illustrates this idea and shows that just as the electric current i in a resistor results from the potential difference δv across a resistance r in an electrical circuit thermal power flow p d produces a temperature difference δt across the thermal resistance in a thermal circuit. In computers heat sinks are used to cool cpus gpus and some chipsets and ram modules. 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.

There are many off the shelf options for heat sinks all with slightly different form factors masses and materials. Solving the thermal equation given in the figure gives t 1 p d θ t 2. Analysis demonstrated that the design with heat pipes running above the components kept junction temperatures within 2 c of the original. 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.

Heat sink design basics for your pcb. 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.