Heat Sink Fins Design

Cad model of a heat sink.

Heat sink fins design.

H air film convective coefficient a exposed surface area of. The image below demonstrates both a fin right and a pin left type of heat sink. Heat sink design key considerations in heat sink design. Plate fin heat sink dimensions.

A reference link has been placed below the calculator for further reading. Heat transfer design and engineering. 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. Heat transfer by convection of a heat sink with fins calculator and equations.

There are six dimensions that would need to be determined to design an appropriate heat sink for your needs. 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. In computers heat sinks are used to cool cpus gpus and some chipsets and ram modules. A heat sink transfers the thermal energy generated by an electronic assembly or component into a cooling medium.

However if h a p k is greater than 1 00 the fins will insulate and prevent heat flow. 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. 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.