Heat sink selection in Electronics

Pravat Kumar Behera

FormerlyTechnical Specialist-Controls, Cummins Technologies India Pvt Ltd

B.E(Electronics & Telecommunication),U.C.E,Burla(INDIA)
Pbehera1998@gmail.com

Abstract

Every electrical and electronic component in a circuit generates some amount of heat
while the circuit is executed by providing power supply. Typically high-power
semiconducting devices like power transistors and the opto electronics such as light
emitting diodes,lasers generate heat in considerable amounts and these components
are inadequate to dissipate heat, as their dissipation capability is significantly low.

Due to this,heating up of the components leads to premature failure and may cause
failure of the entire circuit or system’s performance. So,to conquer these negative
aspects, heat sinks must be provided for cooling purpose.

1 INTRODUCTION
Fourier’s law of heat conduction states that if temperature gradient is present in a body,
then the heat will transfer from a high-temperature region to allow- temperature
region.And, this can be achieved in three different ways,such as convention, radiation
and conduction.

Whenever two objects with different temperature come in contact with each
other,conduction occurs causing the fast-moving molecules of the high-heat object to
collide with the slow-moving molecules of the cooler objects, and thus, transfers thermal
energy to the cooler object, and this is termed as thermal conductivity.

Similarly, heat sink transfers the heat or thermal energy from a high-temperature
component to a low-temperature medium like air, water, oil, etc.Usually air is used as a
low-temperature medium; and, if water is used as medium, then it is termed as cold
plate.

Figure 1.- Heat Sink

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2 HEAT SINK SELECTION CRETERIA
The most important issue in thermal management of electronics devices is to design
cooling systems to maintain the device junction temperature below a set limit called
maximum junction temperature. It has been proven that every 10ºC reduction in junction
temperature will double the life expectancy of the device.

Some of the parameters that are used to determine the selection of heat sink are
i) amount of heat to be dissipated
ii) maximum allowable junction temperature
iii) thermal resistance of the device
iv) natural or forced convention cooling
v) any requirement of forced air flow in the system

3 MANUFACTURING METHOD OF AIR COOLED HEAT SINK

There are numerous ways to manufacturing heat sink. The most common ways of
manufacturing of air-cooling heat sinks are as follows
1. Extrusion
2. Stamping
3. Die Casting
4. Bonding
5. Folding
6. Forging
7. Skiving
8. Machining

Extrusion: Extrusion as a process by which a solid block is converted into a continuous

length of uniform cross-section, by forcing it to flow under high pressure, thought a die
orifice, which is so shaped, as to impart the required form to the product. Typically,
billets of material are placed within a strong walledenclosure, and are caused to extrude
through the die, under a powerful pressure exerted by a ram, actuated hydraulically or
mechanically.

Figure 2.- Typical Image of Extruded Heat Sink

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Extrusion is the most widely used method for heat sink manufacturing. Usually
extrusions are 2 dimensional features and followed by machining process like adding
features attach the component. A typical fin thickness is 0.60mm -2mm, but there have
been cases where it can go as low as 0.4mm. Capital investment and product cost are
moderate, and secondary operations contribute approximately 15-20% of the part cost,
and control product parameters such as tolerance, flatness, and surface finish.

Stamping: Stamping is a process carried out using a power press, fitted with a metal
stamping die, which transforms sheet metal into light weight, inexpensive, parts,
capable of producing several thousand small parts per process stroke.Actual obtainable
volume depends on the size, geometry, and weight of the heat sinks, and the type of
hardness of the material used. Heat sinks of any size could be manufactured by
stamping, and can be commercially found up to 10cm in length. Thickness of the coil
stock is a limiting factory, and maximum thickness is approximately 4mm.

Figure 3.- Typical Image of Stamped Heat Sink

Die-Casting: In the die-casting method molten metal is forced under pressure into
metal dies or molds to produce accurately dimensioned parts. It is considered the
fastest of all casting processes and is often employed where rapidity and economy in
production are essential. The large initial investment required is offset by low part cost
and minimal secondary operations, allowing economic manufacture for large production
volumes. The thermal conductivity of cast heat sinks may be worsened by porosity
caused by gases evolving during solidification. High tooling cost associated with die-
casting results in large capital investment

Figure 4.- Typical Image of Die-Casted Heat Sink

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Bonding: Bonded heat sinks are often built-up extrusions, typically manufactured by
assembling extruded plates into slots on an extruded or machined heat sink base, and
held in place by an interface, usually a two part thermosetting thermally conductive
epoxy or a solder. The bonding agent does however represent a thermal barrier. These
heat sinks are often costlier to manufacture, and the base typically requires special
machining. Process limitations are usually related to the strength of the bonding agent
and dimensional constraints for the slot in the heat sink base.

Figure 5.- Typical Image of a Bonded fin Heat Sink

Folding:Folded heat sinks are built-up sheet metal, manufactured by folding sheet
metal into a serpentine fin array. The folded sheets of metal are attached to the base of
the heat sink by soldering or brazing, which results in an additional thermal resistance at
that interface. However, this contact resistance between the folded fins and the heat
sink base is smaller than expected, due to the fact that the “bends” of folded fins are
typically flattened while bonding or brazing, thus increasing the contact surface area.

Figure 6.- Typical Image of Folded Heat Sink

Forging: In forged heat sink, the fin arrays are formed by forcing raw material into a
molding die by a punch, which usually weighs about 500 tons (453,592.4 Kg). Common
problems in forging are the choking of material in the molding die cavity, which could
lead to fins of uneven height. Secondary processes may include cutting the fins,
machining the base, polishing, or etching. While hot forging is inherently easier, cold
forging results in denser and stronger fins.

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Figure 7.- Typical Image of Forged Heat Sink

Some of the attractive benefits of forging include high strength, superior surface finish,
structural rigidity, close tolerance capabilities, continuity of shape, and high uniformity of
material. Aluminum and magnesium alloys are easily forged, and an important
economic advantage is a typically low rejection rate for the process.

Skiving: In the skiving process, fins are machined using special tooling, whereby
precisely sliced layers from an extruded metal block are bent at the base of the slice to
form slender curved fins. Since the fins and base is an integral unit, the interface
resistance seen in folded and bonded heat sinks is not present. This process was
originally developed to manufacture sparse natural convection arrays, but recent efforts
have been focused towards achieving tighter fin spacing, necessary for forced
convection cooling.Aluminum 6063 is the preferred material on account of its superior
machinability and strength, but copper arrays can also be made. The depth of cut
determines the fin thickness and can be very low between 0.25 – 0.8mm, resulting in
extremely thin fin structures, yielding light and competitive heat sink designs. The
distance between fins can be shortened as much as 0.5mm and their height can reach
60mm thus the ratio of height thickness is around 150 times.

Figure 8.- Typical Image of Skived Heat Sink

Machining: Heat sinks are machined out of a metal block by material removal to create
the inter-fin spaces. Most commonly they are manufactured by gang saw cutting on a
computer numerical control (CNC) machine. The gang saw consists of multiple saw
cutters on an arbor with precise spacing, whichdepends on the heat sink geometry to be
machined. In some cases machining is done using end mills. The advantage of this

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process is that there is minimum lead time. Solid bar stock is readily available and parts
can be made very quickly as compared to other process which requires a lot of tooling
lead time. Often, during machining, the fins are damaged and distorted, and require
extensive secondary operations. Material is also consumed in an unproductive manner
by the generation of scrap metal.

Figure 9.- Machined Heat Sink

4 FACTORS INFLUENCE THERMAL PERFORMANCE OF HEAT SINK

1) Thermal Resistance
2) Material
3) Fins spacing
4) Fin density
5) Length
6) Width
7) Thermal interface material
8) Heat sink attachment method

5 CALCULATING HEATSINK SIZE

Small heat sinks composed by just a piece of sheet metal (aluminium) can be calculated
with the following empirical formula which is only valid for small surfaces, say less than
100 cm2:

Where AHS is the surface of the metal plate in cm² and Rth,HS-A is the thermal resistance
from the heat sink to the ambient in °C/W .

The overall volume of the heat sink required to cool a heat source by using the
following equation:

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 V= (P*Rv)/Delta T
Heat sink volume in cm3 = (heat source power in watts x volumetric thermal resistance)
/ (Tjunction - maximum ambient temperature)

Figure 10- Air flow verses volumetric Thermal Resistance

6 CALCULATING HEATSINK THERMAL RESISTANCE

There are 3 modes of heat transfer: 1. Conduction 2. Convection3. Radiation.
The thermal conductivity varies with mode.

6.1 Heat Flow by Conduction

Thermal Resistance verses Electrical Resistance:

If Conduction is the transfer of heat energy through or across a medium.then

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Where, Q = heat (watts)
k = thermal conductivity (watt/m °C)
Ac = contact area (m2)
T = temperature (C)
t = material thickness or length that the heat has to travel (m)

Thermal Conduction Resistance

Thermal Conductivity (k)-Conduction Mode

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Material t (inch) k(W/m°C)
Air NA 0.026
Grease 0.002 0.197
Alumina 0.002 34.25

6.2 Heat Flow by Convection

Convection is the transfer of heat energy from a hot surface to a moving fluid (air, water,
etc.) at a lower temperature. It is the most difficult heat transfer mode to mathematically
predict.

Q = heat (watts)
hc = heat transfer coefficient (watt/m2 °C)
As = surface area (m2)
Ts = surface temperature (C)
Ta = ambient temperature (C)
θ= thermal resistance (°C/watt)

There are two types of convection:

a) Natural Convection
b) Forced Convection

a) Natural Convection: Cooling describes a situation where there is no forced air

flow from a fan, blower, or any other source. Natural Convection is the fluid flow
induced by buoyant forces, which arise from different densities, caused by
temperature variations in the fluid. In a properly designed natural convection heat
sink operating at sea level conditions, approximately 70% of the heat is
transferred by natural convection and 30% by radiation. At higher altitudes the
convection contribution becomes less as the air becomes less dense (ex. @
70,000 ft., 70%-90% of heat dissipation is by radiation)

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 Application Tips for Natural Convection
1. Cabinets and racks should be adequately vented at the top and bottom of the
enclosure.
2. Heat generating devices should be placed near the top of the cabinet while
cooler, heat-sensitive components should be located lower in the cabinet.
3. When racking many circuit boards, which will dissipate a significant amount of
heat, it is better to place the boards in the vertical position to facilitate convection
cooling.
4. Fins on extruded heat sinks should be vertically aligned when natural
convection cooling is used.

b) Forced Convection: It is fluid flow caused by external means (e.g. fans, pumps,
etc.)

h” (convection coefficient)
The Convection coefficient is very sensitive to small changes
1) Thermal conductivity
2) Dynamic Viscocity
3) Density
4) Specific Heat
5) Velocity
6) Fluid Type

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 Fin spacing verses “h” and “A”

Fin efficiency(n)
n will increase if
1) Length of fin decrease
2) Thickness of fin increase
3) Conductivity of fin increase
4) Heat transfer co-efficient decrease

6.3 Heat Flow by Radiation

Heat transfer by thermal radiation is transfer of heat by electromagnetic waves. It is
different from conduction and convection as it requires no matter or medium to be
present. The radiative energy will pass perfectly through vacuum as well as clear air.

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 Guidline
Maximize surface emissivity
Maximize unobstructed exposed surface area
Use high conductivity heat sink

7 Removing Heat from a Semiconductor

The junction temperature of the solid-state device is given by the thermal loop
relation and the equivalent thermal circuit depicted below the figure.

8 REFERENCE
1) https://www.simscale.com/blog/2016/10/key-factors-heat-sink-design/
2) https://www.giangrandi.org/electronics/thcalc/thcalc.shtml
3) https://celsiainc.com/resources/calculators/heat-sink-size-calculator/

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