With so many complex requirements and heat sink design options, this can be a challenging task. At Supply Concepts thermal engineers understand the factors that impact heat sink specs & design: system airflow, orientation, attachment methods, size, ambient conditions, budget, ect. As designers and manufacturers of hundreds of heat sink solutions, Supply Concepts excels in solving thermal design challenges. We can deliver a heat sink design, characterize its performance, fabricate, prototypes, and deliver to meet production volumes. Manufacturing a heat sink in Asia is your cost effective alternative.
About Heat Sinks
Heat sinks sinks are devices that improve heat dissipation from a hot surface to cooler ambient one. A heat sink does this by increasing the surface area that is in contact with cooling media.
Extruded heat sinks are relatively inexpensive; once a design is made the manufacturing process is highly automated. Aluminium being the most common material used offers and inexpensive thermal conductor material. Extruded heat sinks are used for most general applications. Depending on the design, fin pitch, and base thickness, they can be low to high performers. The basic con is they are limited in their dimensions being that they are based on an aluminium extrusion with a given shape.
Stamped heat sinks are made from a piece of metal being stamped out in a press. A tool is made to the form of the heat sink; the metal is then moved through a stamping which creates the heat sink. This is a highly automated process and once the heat sink design is complete and the prototypes checked, the actual production is a relatively simple. Stamped heat sinks are generally used for low power applications since they are typically low performance option.
Bonded fin heat sinks are generally designed for large applications that require moderate performance. Bonded fin heat sinks are made by bonding individual fins of metal to a base. The bonding can be done by a thermal epoxy or by brazing. The main advantage to this type of heat sink is it can be used for large applications, such as a DC-DC converter or battery charger. The main drawback is that manufacturing process labor is intense, resulting in a higher cost for the bonded fin assembly.
Folded fin heat sinks are best performers if there is ducted air. The flow is directed through a duct directly at the heat sink. Fin pitch can be optimized in the heat sink manufacturing process making it a very high performer. Also, because the heat sink material is folded, there can be an increase in surface area which heat can be dissipated. Fold fin heat sinks have high heat flux density. The drawbacks to this type of heat sink are the cost including manufacturing and ducting necessary in your system. In some cases, plastic can be used to create a folded fin heat sink.
Active Heat Sinks are those that have some kind of forced air mover on them. This might be a fan or blower, most times being attached to the heat sink itself. The air movement provides air flow which helps to cool down a semiconductor hot spot. Though Active Heat Sinks can be very efficient they may not be the best solution long term. Fans are made up of moving parts can break, rendering the heat sink less effective.
Forged Heat Sinks are done by compressing a metal, in most case aluminium or copper. Forged heat sinks may be used in a wide variety of applications. They are medium performing heat sinks that are generally inexpensive to make. Their only real limitation being they are somewhat limited in design and air flow management.
Swaged Heat Sinks are made by a swaging manufacturing process, which is similar to the forging process. The swaging process involves forming the metal to a die. Swaged heat sinks generally are very good performers and ideal for high power applications. Swaged heat sinks tend to be bulky with a limited ability to manage air flow.
Single Fin Assembly Heat Sinks are versatile for all applications. Their performance can scale from low to high. Some reasons why thermal engineers use Single Fin are because single fin heat sinks are light weight and feature low profiles which enable them to be deployed in tight spaces.
Skived Heat Sinks are those that are produced using the skiving process. Fins are made by making very fine cuts from block of metal, usually aluminium or copper. Skived heat sinks can be used in many applications requiring medium to high performance. The skiving process produces heat sinks with very high fin density, creating more surface area for heat dissipation. A drawback is the thick base often seen in skived heat sinks. The Skived heat sink needs to be placed in a forced air flow to be efficient, very much like Active Heat Sinks.
Integrated Heat Pipe Assemblies
Although heat pipes themselves do not actually dissipate significant amounts of heat, they do effectively transfer heat without a large increase in temperature. This unique transfer capability allows them to transport, or spread heat to a point remote from the heat generator. A variety of basic heat sink technologies benefit from integrating heat pipes which improve conduction paths, reduce overall weight, and raise thermal performance without increasing volume. The availability of a wide range of heat pipes sizes and power handling capabilities make them suitable for the integration in different types of high performance applications. Due to the large variety and diverse nature of customer requirements, most heat sinks using integrated heat pipes are developed specifically for the application. Heat Pipe assemblies have been used to solve thermal problems in motor drives, SMPS, transportation applications, desktop/notebook/computer servers and telecommunication.