Heat Sink 101: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Heat Sinks

Alexandra Francois-Saint-Cyr
Application Engineering Manager

MECHANICAL ANALYSIS DIVISION

Agenda
What is a Heat sink? Heat Sink Design Criteria Application Examples Questions and Answers

What is a Heat Sink?

Heat sinks enable a more efficient heat transfer from a heat source to the adjacent fluid by using an extended surface area Heat gets moved from heat source to heat sink by conduction Heat sink transfers heat to ambient air by convection
Heat can also be radiated to surrounding environment
Heat Sink Component dissipating heat

PCB

Heat Transfer by Conduction Heat Transfer by Convection and Radiation

Heat Sink Design Criteria

Heat sink design and efficiency vary greatly depending on the construction and application Factors in selecting heat sink
Component power dissipation and maximum junction temperature Available volume/space Interface material/Mounting system Spreading resistance Thermal resistance RSA Pressure drop Flow by pass Natural or forced convection Manufacturability Cost
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Thermal Resistance Definition

Q

Conductive Heat Transfer Rk = T/Q = L/kA (K/W) Similar to R = V/I (Ohms)

k: Material thermal conductivity

Face A at fixed T1 > T2

Face A at fixed T2 < T1

x
T1 L/kA V ,T T2 Qh
TS
Surface A

Convective Heat Transfer Rh = T/Qh = 1/hA (K/W) T = Ts - T

h: Heat transfer coefficient

TS 1/hA

T
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The Thermal Budget

A useful tool in helping with Heat Sink selection
Defined as: Tbudget = Q * RJA [K]

Breaks the problem into clearly defined heat paths for a clear design understanding
TA RSA Ts RCS TC RJC TJ
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Sink to Ambient Resistance

Case to Sink Resistance

Junction to Case Resistance

Case to Sink Resistance: Spreading Resistance

Component encapsulant to heat sink

Component substrate to PCB via solder balls

Kennedy Charts can be used to estimate the spreading resistance

See the Reference section for more details

On line calculator from the University of Waterloo

http://www.mhtl.uwaterloo.ca/old/onlinetools/strip_source/intro.html

Case to Sink Resistance: Interface Materials

Thermal paste (ceramic mixed with silicon grease or hydrocarbons)
Fluids, naturally fill the gap Thermal resistance is very low

Thermally conductive compounds

Initially flow as freely as grease to fill gaps and then cures with heat to a rubbery state Approximately same performance as grease

Conductive elastomers
Deform with pressure to fill irregular gaps Provide electrical insulation

Adhesive tapes
Double sided adhesive to stick to adjacent surfaces Resistances relatively high

Phase Change Materials

Behave like thermal greases after they reach their melting temperature Interface becomes thinner until surfaces contact or material viscosity prevents further flow

Heat Sink Fin Efficiency

A temperature gradient exits between the top and the base of the fin
Due to conduction resistance within the fin

This can be quantified using the fin efficiency formula

= (tanh mL)/(mL) m = (2h/k)0.5
h = Convection Coefficient k = Conductivity of Fin Material = Fin Thickness L = Fin Height

An ideal fin (Tbase = Ttop) would have an efficiency of 1

Heat Sink Calculations

To find a suitable heat sink for your application, you can use correlations to obtain h values and the Fin Efficiency formula
Flat plate and ducted flow correlations available from most Flow and Heat Transfer books (please see References section)
Geometry Flat Plate Circular Tube Characteristic Length L (m) Plate length Tube Diameter Flow Regime Laminar Turbulent Laminar Turbulent Re <105 >105 <2300 >2300 Nu 0.664Re0.5Pr0.3 0.037Re0.8Pr0.33 4.36 for constant Q 3.66 for constant T 0.023Re0.8Pr0.4

Fluid properties defined at T = (Ts+T)/2 Tube correlations assumes fully developed temperature and velocity profiles; smooth surface

Also, consider the effects on flow impedance

Few fins - low surface area, low pressure drop Many fins - high surface area, high pressure drop

There is an optimum number of fins for a given flow rate

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Heat Sink Quick Calculations

Here are some quick calculations to be used for first order approximations of heat sink performance
Based on laminar flow over a flat plate Air at 300K
Merged boundary layer

Estimate of Heat Transfer Coefficient (W/in2 C) h = 1.26e-3 (V/H) 0.5 The minimum recommended fin spacing (inches) Smin = 1.3 (H/V) 0.5
H = heat sink length in the flow direction (inches) V = approach velocity (ft/min)
Fin Fin

Tw

Tw

V ,T
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Heat Sink Flow Resistance vs. Thermal Resistance

Simple volume averaged performance comparison of various heat sink types
300 Volumetric Resitance ( C-cm^3/W) 250 200 150 100 50
Impingement Folded Fin Pin Fin Bonded Fin Vapor Base Parallel Fin Data collected from various vendors and based on 200 LFM

0 0.01

0.1

1 Rsa ( C/W)

10

100

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Heat Sinks in Natural Convection Applications

When designing a heat sink for a natural convection application, consider Heat sink orientation (compared to gravity)
Pin fin heat sink maybe be more appropriate than a plate fin heat sink

Surface finish Heat transfer by radiation is more predominant High emissivity surface will help dissipate more heat away from the heat sink

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Thermal Design Tools

Hand calculations/Spreadsheet
Excellent tool for early heat sink design exploration

Finite Element Analysis (FEA)

3D numerical analysis Typically doesnt calculate convective heat transfer and radiation explicitly

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)

3D Conjugate fluid flow and heat transfer numerical analysis

Lab tests
Most value when used as a model validation - rather than for parametric investigation

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Application Example 1: CARMA Board Thermal Design

CARMA board was designed by the California Institute of Technology for use in the Owen Valley Radio Observatory Heat sink design needed for 4 components in a row
U136, 137, 138 and 139 FBGAs dissipating 13W each

U136 U137 U138 U139

400 ft/min; 25C incoming air Gravity direction

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Application Example 1: CARMA Board Thermal Design

Baseline plate fin heat sink
Aluminum 13 fins, 0.035 in thick, 0.34 in tall Base: 1.45 in 1.45 in, 0.115 in thick Heat sink TIM: 0.9 C.in2/W

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Application Example 1: CARMA Board Thermal Design

FloTHERM Model

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Application Example 2: Integra-Luxtec Light Model

Fan 40C Air Inlet

300W Bulb Air Exhaust (50% open)

Heat Sink

Aluminum Heat Sink

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Application Example 2: Integra-Luxtec Light Model

Flow Distribution
Airflow rotating due to fan blade rotation

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Application Example 2: Integra-Luxtec Light Model

Heat Sink Temperature Distribution
22 fins 27 fins

Bulb temperature decreased to 148C compared to 174C in original 22 fin design

Cut Plane Location

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Application Example 2: Integra-Luxtec Light Model

Additional fin designs were analyzed
Temperature [Deg C] Bulb Temperature vs Fin Count & Geometry
220 210 200 2 xtra fins ave temp 190 2 xtra fins, long, ave temp 180 170 160 150 140 130 120 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 single fin ave temp (pull fan)

Increased number of fins Fin with limbs (F shape fin) Elongated F shape fin Fan pulling instead of pushing air through the heat sink

single fin ave temp

F shape fin yielded the lowest bulb temperature

Fin Count

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Application Example 2: Integra-Luxtec Light Model

Optimized Heat Sink
27 fins with limbs (F shape)

Bulb temperature decreased to 123C compared to 174C in original 22 fin design

Cut Plane Location

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References
Frank White, Fluid Mechanics Frank P. Incropera, David P. Dewitt, Fundamentals of Heat and Mass Transfer Idelchik, I.E., Flow Resistance: A Design Guide for Engineers Steinberg, Dave S., Cooling Techniques for Electronic Equipment Kennedy, D.P., Heat Conduction in a Homogeneous Solid Circular Cylinder of Isotropic Media, IBM TR 00.699, 1959 Tony Kordiban, Hot Air Rises and Heat Sinks CARMA Board Project, California Institute of Technology
http://www.ovro.caltech.edu/~dwh/carma_board/

Web References
- www.cfd-online.com - www.coolingzone.com - www.electronics-cooling.com

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