Computer heat sinks, such as fin arrays and heat pipes, are much larger than silicon chips and are continuing to grow in size. This trend is driven by the increasing chip heat generation rates and has serious implications for overall system performance. The large volume of existing heat sinks causes discrete memory, video, and power-delivery components to be crowded away from … [Read more...]
There's something for everybody on talk radio
I was doing my Sunday morning (2 a.m.) radio call-in show about electronics cooling (Hot Air on the Air with Tony K), when I heard a familiar voice on the line. "Herbie in Hereford," I greeted the caller, "You're on the air with Hot Air." "First time caller, long time listener . . .," the caller said. "Wow. There must be an insomnia epidemic," I interrupted. Johnny, the … [Read more...]
Quick and easy fan/sink characterization
It is often necessary to generate in-house pressure-drop and base-to-ambient thermal resistance data for ducted fan/heat sink assemblies. For reliable applicability of the performance data, the configuration of the test article should closely match the intended application so that the test article coolant flow characteristics (turbulence level, 3-dimensionality, etc.) match … [Read more...]
Thermal Design Challenges in Automotive Alternator Power Electronics
Ever since the advent of the automotive alternator, or claw-pole alternating current generator, in the 1960's, there has been an ever-increasing thermal design challenge to cool the power electronics in these machines. Figure 1 depicts a typical cutaway section of a modern day alternator. At first glance one may think that cooling the diodes in a rectifier bridge of an … [Read more...]
Diamonds are a Thermal Designer's Best Friends
Different forms of carbon, such as processed natural graphite, pyrolytic graphite, diamond-like carbon, and synthetic diamond, offer lots of possibilities for maximizing conductive heat transfer.Synthetic diamond has already found its place as a common solution for heat spreaders inside semiconductor laser components, where temperature stabilization is of utmost importance for … [Read more...]
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