Question

1. List out the various designs of heat sinks based on the method of manufacture of the heat sink.

Answer 1

Heat sinks transfers heat energy directly from the high temperature substance to the low temperature fluid medium. This medium is usually air, but can also be water or oil. Heat sinks are basically used to keep a hot component cooled down. These sinks are designed to absorb and disperse heat from a high temperature substance/object.

There are various types of Heat Sinks based on the method of manufacturing:-

1. Extruded Heat Sinks- These sinks are the most commonly used sinks today. These sinks are made from extruded aluminum. This type of process is useful for almost all applications. Also, these sinks are low cost sinks and can be manufactured easily with custom specifications. The performance of these sinks’ ranges from low to high. These sinks are more cost-effective thermal management solution.

2. Bonded-Fin Heat Sinks- These sinks are used for physically large applications which requires large sized heat sinks to disperse more heat. These sinks can be made by a combination of aluminum and copper fins, instead of just one fin material. This results in improved thermal performance. These sinks generally offer moderate performance and are costly as well.

3. Folded-Fin Heat Sinks- These sinks have large surface area and are considered to be of very high performance. Manufacturing of these sinks is very expensive which makes them very costly.

4. Skived Heat Sinks- Skiving process is used to manufacture these sinks. The sinks produced from this method are generally made up of copper. These heat sinks are produced from a solid block of metal. These sinks are subject to high design flexibility and high fin density can be achieved from these types of sinks. And this created more surface area and which in-turn leads to loss of heat. The performance of these sinks range between medium to high.

5. Stamped Heat Sinks- These sinks are either copper or aluminum metal that are stamped into desired shapes. These sinks are relatively cheaper as compared to other sinks and are commonly used for low power applications which require high-volume production. Low cost is the advantage of these sinks, however, bring the drawback of low performance.

6. Casted Heat Sinks- This is another method of creating aluminum heat sinks. Sinks are made through die-casting. These sinks are used for high density fin heat sinks.

7. Forged Heat Sinks- These sinks are made by compressing either aluminum or copper. This process is called “forging process”. These sinks have quite a lot of applications. These sinks can be further categorized as cold forged or hot forged sinks. These sinks however provide medium performance but can be made at low cost with high volumes.

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