Thermal Analysis of Heat Sink in CPU with Varying Fin Designs

Abstract

Due to the passage of current, the electronic components generate heat during the course of their operation. The main objective is to cool the electronic component by removing the heat generated in order to ensure the optimal working of the component. This is done by attaching fins to the device which aid in rapid heat removal to the surroundings. Heat sinks using thermal contact absorb and disperse heat. Heat sinks function efficiently by transferring thermal energy from an object at a relatively high temperature to another object at a lower temperature with greater heat capacity. This rapid transfer of thermal energy quickly makes both the object at equilibrium state by lowering the temperature of the first object, fulfilling the heat sink's role as a cooling device. A computer system's components produce large amounts of heat during their operation. Integrated circuits include CPUs, chipset and graphics cards along with hard drives produce large amount of heat. In order to keep these components in safe condition, heat generated must be dissipated. This is done mainly using heat sinks to increase the surface area which dissipates heat. For this task Finite Element Tool ANSYS is used to determine the thermal gradient and maximum value of temperature in heat sink. With these results from ANSYS an optimum area is added to increase the heat dissipation rate and also sharp points are designed in top edge of fins to increase the rate of heat transfer.