Category Archives: Heat Sinks

Case Study: Thermal analysis & heat sink design to optimize cooling of 16 Core packet processor

Posted on March 31, 2010 by | Leave a comment

Computer-driven simulation and analysis of thermal characteristics can be used to develop optimal cooling solutions for high-performance board designs. Of course, those designs have to be verified by real-world testing to improve MTBF and shorten time-to-market.

ATS recently did just that. Facing a problem involving a PCI-X card, a hot 16-core 500Mhz packet processor, and a COTS PCI type, rack mount chassis, ATS found a solution where none could be found before. There was alot to do and we’re happy to share what we did in this white paper at RTC Magazine, “Thermal Analysis and Heat Sink Design Optimize Cooling of High-Performance Modules“

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Posted in Analysis, Case Studies, CFD, Consulting, Heat Sinks, Thermal Design

Direct Cooling of Power Modules by Using Micro-Channel Structures: an ATS Labs “how to” article

Posted on March 30, 2010 by | Leave a comment

Power modules, those devices that integrate together power semiconductors, power switches and other components in one tidy package, are really power systems or power blocks. Mostly convenient, they can be integrated into a design efficiently.

But what happens when all that power, even in small amounts, is aggregated together? You get a lot of heat in a package and when electronics get hot, you really need to cool them so they work best. ATS has a terrific “how to” article on doing just that using Micro-Channel Structures.

Regular readers of our blog here at Advanced Thermal Solutions know we’ve covered microchannels and cooling a bit before. On March 10, we posted on “Understanding How Fluid Boils in Tiny Microchannels Gives Engineers another Tool to Cool High Power Electronics” and then published an article entitled, “The Thermal Performance of Microchannel and Macrochannel Cold Plates“.

Our “how to” article today though covers the cooling of power modules. We invite you to have a look by clicking to our article, “Direct Cooling of Power Modules by Using Micro-Channel Structures“.

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Posted in Heat Sinks, Microchannels, Thermal Design

maxiFLOW™ extended linear heat sinks reduce the intensity of heat generated by high output LEDs

Posted on March 29, 2010 by | Leave a comment

A series of maxiFLOW™ heat sinks are available from ATS for cooling OSRAM DRAGONstick LEDs and other linear LED lighting products. The heat sinks feature a low profile, spread fin array that maximizes surface area for more effective convection (air) cooling, particularly when airflow is limited. The sinks are fabricated from extruded aluminum which enhances their bottom to top heat transfer properties, while minimizing their weight and cost. For more information: http://qats.com/Products/Heat-Sinks/LED-Cooling/Linear-LED-Heat-Sink/18.aspx

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Posted in Heat Sinks, LED

Heat Sink Modeling using Compact Models: A “how to” article from ATS Thermal Labs

Posted on March 19, 2010 by | 1 comment

The methodology for compact thermal modeling of electrical components is described in the JEDEC standard, JESD15-1.  A detailed model of both component and heat sink can be used for single component level analyses. Board and system level analyses require compact components to represent the thermal behavior of a component and to limit the amount of grid cells and related computer power. Our article discusses the methodology of compact heat sink modeling. We provide some modeling background then compare detailed, substitute and compact modeling. Please read the entire article at, “An Approach for Compact Heat Sink Modeling“

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Posted in CFD, Heat Sinks, Modeling, Simulation, Thermal Design

Thermal Interface Material Resource Round-Up for your Heat Sinks and Thermal Engineering Design needs

Posted on March 17, 2010 by | Leave a comment

There’s a great deal of information out there on thermal interface material from the various manufacturers.   Surprisingly, much of it is very good and mostly neutral, like our presentation in our post from earlier today, “When to Use Thermal Interface Material with your Heat Sinks and why?”

With some thermal interface material you don’t even need a heat sink providing you can bridge the gap between some low power components and the case thereby using the case itself as a heat sink.  Obviously, this works only in limited cases of fairly low power devices.   Here is ATS’s Thermal Interface Material Resource Round-Up for your Heat Sinks and Thermal Engineering Design needs.  Our list is not exhaustive but should get you going in the right direction if you are just starting out or if you are doing a market study on what is available.

  • Fujipoly:  Thermal putty and gap fillers.  Don’t discount this stuff!  Worth a look for bridging the IC to the case without a heat sink. Also useful where you need to fill in spaces with odd shapes.  In some applications can be near to phase change material performance
  • Chomerics:  One of our favs.  Phase Change Material (PCM) that works almost as good as grease but with none of the mess. You must have the proper pressure over time on the heat sink to the PCM to make this work well.  Obviously, we’d recommend our superGRIP or maxiGRIP for that task.
  • Bergquist: Various types of thermal material.  Just announced a new phase change material type.
  • 3M: Thermal tape, pads and epoxies
  • AI Technology: Phase Change Material and Thermal Grease
  • Laird Technology: Gap filler, Phase Change Material, Thermal Grease
  • Honeywell:  Phase Change Material and the innovative printable thermal material good to 150 degress C.
  • Shin Etsu: Thermal greases, thermal gels, Phase Change Material and more
  • Dow Corning Thermal:  Various thermal interface materials in both pads and films
  • Locktite Thermal:  I won’t kid you, we aren’t fans of thermal epoxies but in some cases you just have to do it.  Locktite has some nice products for that and we know several telecomm OEMs using them.
  • NuSiL:  Offers low outgassing thermal interface material
  • Indium:  Metal thermal interface materials

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Posted in Heat Sinks, Thermal Interface Material