Heat Sink Fins

[JimboJones21]

Hello All,

I am doing some experiments with heat sinks so that I can find a high efficiency design for my application.
I was talking to a mech friend about heat sinks and making them more efficient and he said that the CONICAL shaped fin is better than the TRIANGLE shape. He also said that the spacing between the fins made a difference. Is this correct? Any other help on heat sink design would be much appreciated!!

 

[bigTomHanks]

There is a book that I found at my university library that is all about optimizing fins. I used it on my heat transfer project. I'm sure it will be available at your local university library. Check it out.

 

[JimboJones21]

You wouldn't by any chance know the name of the book or author?

 

[ko99]

Fin spacing and thickness make a big difference. Here's a tool for optimizing heat sinks:

http://www.heatsinkdesigner.com/id24_download.htm

ko (

http://www.ecooling.biz)

 

[JimboJones21]

Thanks for the software ko99. I tried the software by designing the heatsink I have, input the fan flow and wattage. The predicted temperature was close. I then reduced the number of fins and the software said there would be a 10deg drop in sink temp so I machined out 4 fins and tested. The temperature drop was less than 1deg. Would that be correct for a real world application?

 

[ko99]

The software should be closer than that.
Does the fan you defined match your test fan?
Does the duct you defined match your test duct?
Does the fin thickness you defined match your test sample?

I'll be happy to check it out if you send me your hsd file and test results.



ko (

http://www.ecooling.biz)