Cooling Source Designs and Manufactures Various Heat Sinks, Including BGA Heat Sinks for Bonded Grid Arrays

Cooling Source is faced with the challenges of increasing performance demands and miniaturization of electronics. Heat dissipation is an issue for both challenges. If heat dissipation were not necessary, all electronic devices would run faster.

As it stands, without heat dissipation, devices fail, overheat, and are unreliable. Heat dissipation is needed to produce reliable devices with long life and acceptable performance. Tablets and smartphones get around heat dissipation because they use little power and heat is not an important issue.

Attaching a heat sink is a method of removing heat. Heatsinks enable heat to dissipate from the hot surface of a component that generates heat to a medium like air that is cooler and ambient. The least effective transfer in most situations is through the interface between the coolant air and the hot component.

Placing a heatsink on the hot surface increases the surface area and improves the heat transfer. The heat sink usually has fins that have direct air contact. More heat is dissipated, and the component operating temperature is lowered. Maintaining the device temperature below the manufacturer's recommended maximum is the main purpose served with heatsinks.

Choosing the Appropriate Heat Sink 

In the selection of heatsinks, various parameters must be considered, and calculations performed that affect the heat sink performance as well as the performance of the overall system. Thermal performance is affected by the natural convection air flow or air flow forced using fans. The method of heat sink attachment such as thermal tape or past also affects thermal performance.

Types of Heat Sinks 

The available variety of applications includes fabricated fin, board or surface mount, extruded, or BGA heat sinks. They come in a variety of fixing methods, performance levels, and sizes.

Board or surface mount heat sinks are mounted to both the device and the printed circuit board. They are usually constructed as an extrusion or stamping. They are designed for common packaging.

Extruded heatsinks have two-dimensional profiles that can dissipate large heat loads. They are cut, machined, or have added options. Cross-cutting produces omnidirectional pin fin heat sinks, rectangular in shape. Incorporated serrated fins improve the performance.

BGA heat sinks are given the name because they are mounted to bonded grid arrays. BGA heat sinks are simple extrusions. They are typically crosscut to convert extruded pins into pins that can be used in more diverse applications having bonded grid arrays.

Cooling Source has supplied heat sinks to the electronic industry since 2004. The company offers a comprehensive range of heat sinks. Cooling Source designs and manufactures heatsinks that supply many of the electronic industry's specified components. As proof of recognition as a dynamic company, Cooling Source has earned ISO9001 and ISO14001 certification.

For further detail about heatsink manufacturers and custom heatsinks to visit the website.

Heat Pipes Used for Vertical Enclosure Air Flow Patterns

Exploration of ways to increase the density of devices and boards inside electronic enclosures while keeping internal temperature to a minimum continues.The designs, cabinet sizes, and enclosures of today vary substantially in heights and widths. Heights can be seven feet tall. They do have a common thread. The density and heat load inside the electronics are increasing. Thoughtful heat exchanger selection in relation to internal cabinet air flow patterns is required to properly cool the internal electronics

Natural convection works only when there are a few heat-generating components. If air circulation is improved by opening cabinet doors or if air is moved through the cabinet by high-powered fans, then debris, vermin, and dust contamination are less likely. Using cold plates or air-to-liquid heat exchangers are not viable alternatives. Unwelcome condensate, close in proximity to electronic components, may be introduced.

Alternatives, ideally suited for designs of modern enclosures exist. Heat transfer and air flow are optimized inside electronic enclosures by using two air flow paths. There is a horizontal and vertical air flow pattern. Either impingement cores or heat pipes are selected. Both technologies maintain a water tight and dust tight seal.

Heatpipes are the heat exchangers used for vertical air flow. Heat pipes use a unique capillary action that provide thermal conductivity that is extremely effective. The heatpipes can be planar or cylindrical. The surface inside the heat pipes is lined with capillary wicking material. Heatpipes are evacuated and back-filled with small amounts of working fluid such as methanol, acetone, or water. Vapors carry heat to the area where the vapor is condensed. Heat is released to the cooling media. Gravity pumps the condensed working fluid back to the evaporation side.

Heatpipes are passive heat transfer systems.They require no additional energy source or pump that will wear out.

For further detail about folded fin heat sinks and bonded fin heatsinks to visit the website.

Configuring Heat Sinks for LED Lighting

Light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, are a solid state lighting form. Typical LED lights are comprised of heat sinks, integrated optical lenses that shape the radiation pattern, and small pieces of semiconductors. LED heatsinks dissipate heat and keep semiconductor operating temperature low. 

LED lights have many advantages over incandescent sources of light. They include faster switching, smaller size, improved physical robustness, longer lifetime, and lower energy consumption. LED lights, when effectively used, provide ample light for rooms and street lighting. They do require more precise current and heat management and are more expensive than compact fluorescent and traditional incandescent lamp sources having comparable output. 

Operating temperature is directly linked to the life expectancy and performance of LED lights. Lower running temperatures mean better performance and a longer operating life. For increased durability and quality of lighting, the thermal aspect of the design is critical. LED lights are normally cooled with heat sinks that use natural convection. 

For better cooling, the use of honeycomb-configured LED heatsinks has been proposed. Honeycomb heat sinks weigh less but have more surface area. The number of cells that surround the heat source affects the cooling performance of honeycomb heat sinks. 

The number of cells is a crucial parameter concerning space and cost considerations. Large cell numbers mean more heat flux dissipation. The size restrictions of LED heatsinks limit the number of cells. Experimental testing and numerical simulation have provided a honeycomb heat sink design that effectively dissipates over 10 W of heat using natural convection. 

It also reduces the weight of the cooling system of LED lights. Studies have shown that increasing the number of cells along with other adjustments, improves the honeycomb heat sink performance. The honeycomb design developed for LED cooling is not new to the heatsink industry.

For further detail about copper heatsinks and heatsinks to visit the website.