Computer-implemented method for designing heat sink

Abstract

According to an embodiment, a method for designing a heat sink (500-508) is disclosed, the heat sink comprising a container designed to exchange heat with a component, having means for directing coolant from an inlet (100) to an outlet (200), the method comprising the steps of: generating a first grid (600) comprising elements defining a discrete shape of the container in a bulk state; generating a heat map of the container by applying a thermal load of the component thereon to identify hot spots; repeatedly solving the fluid flow equation and the energy equation applied on the first grid by a topological optimization method to minimize the thermal resistance of the heat sink (500-508) and / or to maximize the thermal uniformity of the heat sink; wherein the method further comprises the steps of: applying channels (400-402) on the first grid (600) by connecting the inlet (100) to the outlet (200) via a hot spot to identify obstacles (300-302) for the coolant within the first grid (600); and wherein a solution step is performed in advance on the elements associated with the channel.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of heat sinks, and in particular to a heat sink for a temperature raising device including a heat generating component (such as an electronic component) and / or a temperature raising device such as a battery. Background Art

[0002] A heat sink is a passive heat exchanger designed to exchange heat with a device that includes components that generate said heat (such as electronic components) or components that need to be heated up (such as batteries). A heat sink transfers thermal energy from a high temperature device to a low temperature fluid medium and vice versa.

[0003] Heat sinks are designed to maximize heat transfer to a surrounding cooling medium, such as air. The velocity of the cooling medium, the surface area in contact with the surrounding cooling medium, material selection, protrusion design, and surface treatment are factors that affect heat sink performance.

[0004] The purpose of a heat sink is to maintain the functional performance and / or operating life of an electronic component by regulating its temperature. However, as electronic devices continue to miniaturize, the requirements for heat dissipation rates have exceeded the limits of typical pin-fin or straight-fin heat sinks or a variation or combination of the two. Therefore, a customized heat sink is needed.

[0005] A radiator is disclosed in EP 3625824 B1, which comprises a substantially planar solid plate provided with a plurality of fluid flow channels formed to guide a coolant from an inlet to an outlet of the plate, wherein the plurality of channels comprises at least two main channels interconnected by at least a plurality of bridging channels which do not branch further between their respective attachment points to the main channels, wherein the bridging channels have a cross-section which locally increases in the flow direction, and wherein the bridging channels have a cross-section which locally decreases in the flow direction downstream of the local increase in the cross-section.

[0006] In US2014 / 091453 A1, a cooling device is disclosed, which includes: a base, which includes an exterior, an interior, an inlet and an outlet, wherein a heating element is connected to the exterior; and a plurality of pin-shaped radiator fins, which are located in the interior of the base, at a portion close to the heating element, wherein the radiator fins are arranged from the inlet to the outlet, wherein the cooling device uses a cooling medium flowing from the inlet to the outlet in the interior of the base to cool the heating element, each radiator fin includes a lateral cross-section, which has a dimension in a flow direction of the cooling medium and a dimension in a lateral direction orthogonal to the flow direction of the cooling medium, and the dimension in the flow direction is longer than the dimension in the lateral direction, and the radiator fins are separated from each other by a predetermined distance in the lateral direction.

[0007] A nonlinear fin heat sink is disclosed in US2009 / 145581 A1, which includes: a base; a plurality of fins, which are arranged on the upper surface of the base, wherein each fin has a longitudinal dimension of the fin cross section and a transverse dimension of the fin cross section, and the fins are arranged into a plurality of longitudinal rows and a plurality of transverse rows; and an upper cover, which is arranged on top of the fins, wherein the base and the upper cover form a boundary for internal flow, one side of the heat sink is a leading edge for inflow, and the corresponding side of the heat sink is a trailing edge for outflow.

[0008] In addition to these cited prior art documents, there are many other documents that disclose different types of heat sinks. It is therefore clear that the uses of heat sinks are known. In addition, different types are each suitable for specific devices and / or purposes. However, because a specific type of heat sink is suitable for a specific device or purpose, it does not mean that the type can be used for other devices or purposes without restrictions or obstacles. Such applicability requires special research.

[0009] Another possibility is to design the heat sink according to the purpose, ie the constraints imposed by the heat generating components and the device incorporating the heat sink or the constraints imposed by the heat sink's material or the environment in which it is used. As a result, a customized heat sink is obtained.

[0010] In the doctoral thesis "Optimal Heat Sink Design for Liq-uid Cooling of Electronics" by T. Van Oevelen (KU Leuven, November 2014), an advanced digital design method for micro heat sinks is disclosed to obtain such customized heat sinks. Two approaches to designing heat sinks are discussed, namely the shape optimization of individual microchannels on the one hand and the topology optimization of the heat sink on the other hand.

[0011] An integrated two-step strategy for an optimal design of liquid-cooled channel layout based on the MMC–density approach is disclosed in Pan, S., Yu, M., Li, H., et al., “An integrated two-step strategy for an optimal design of liquid-cooled channel layout based on the MMC–density approach,” Struct Multidisc Optim, vol. 65, 221 (2022), https: / / doi.org / 10.1007 / s00158-022-03315-9.

[0012] In BT Li, CH Xie, XX Yin, R. Lu, Y. Ma, HL Liu, and J. Hong, “Multidisciplinary optimization of liquid cooled heat sinks with compound jet / channel structures arranged in a multipass configuration,” Applied Thermal Engineering, Vol. 195 (2021) https: / / doi.org / 10.1016 / j.applthermaleng.2021.117159, an integrated optimization strategy was developed that consists of two different topology optimizers: a moving deformable component-based optimizer (MMC) for initial topology prediction and a density-based optimizer (SIMP) for subsequent topology refinement.

[0013] In Marco K. Swierstra et al., “Automated and Accurate Geometry Extractionand Shape Optimization of 3D Topology Optimization Results,” arXiv:2004.05448v1 (2020), https: / / doi.org / 10.48550 / arXiv.2004.05448, a two-step process for topology optimization and shape optimization is disclosed.

[0014] However, the problem is that the final result may not always guarantee that it satisfies the constraints imposed by the purpose of the component, device and / or heat sink. In this case, the calculations must be repeated with slightly or completely different initial parameters and corresponding iterations, but even then there is no certainty that the design iteration cycle, for example performed by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software, will converge to an acceptable final result.

[0015] It is therefore an object of the present invention to alleviate the above mentioned disadvantages and to provide an improved solution for designing a heat sink in an efficient and fast manner. Summary of the invention

[0016] In a first aspect, the object is achieved by a computer-implemented method for designing a heat sink according to claim 1, the heat sink comprising a container comprising a device for directing a coolant from an inlet to an outlet of the container, the container being designed to exchange heat with a component, the method comprising the following steps: generating a first mesh of the container, the first mesh comprising elements defining a discrete shape of the container in a block state; generating a thermal map of the container by applying a thermal load of the component on the first mesh, thereby identifying one or more hot spots; repeatedly solving the fluid flow equations and energy equations applied to the first mesh by a topology optimization method to minimize the thermal resistance of the heat sink and / or maximize the thermal uniformity of the heat sink; characterized in that the method further comprises the following steps before the solving step: applying a channel for the coolant on the first mesh by connecting the inlet to the outlet via one or more of the one or more hot spots, thereby identifying obstacles for the coolant within the first mesh, also referred to as baffles and / or barriers; and wherein the solving step is performed in advance on the elements associated with the channel.

[0017] The radiator designed by the disclosed method includes a container having an inlet and an outlet. Through the inlet, a fluid (such as air or water) or another type of coolant (such as a boiling coolant or a buoyancy coolant), or a coolant mixture (such as water and ethylene glycol) can be guided from the inlet to the outlet. Therefore, there will be multiple fluid flow channels in the container for guiding the fluid. The efficiency of the radiator in exchanging heat with the component depends on the configuration of the multiple fluid channels, but needs to be adapted to the component itself. In other words, there is no single configuration suitable for any type of component, but it needs to be adapted for its specific purpose. Therefore, through this method, a fluid channel maze is designed after several iterations to meet the constraints required by the component and / or the device integrating the component and the radiator.

[0018] The shape of the container may also be adapted to its purpose and may therefore have a shape adapted to the shape of the component or a portion thereof. It may be a beam-like shape with rounded edges, but it should be clear that other shapes are also possible.

[0019] The position of the inlet and outlet may also be adapted to its purpose, but may be further positioned by taking into account the device in which the heat sink and components will be integrated. Likewise, it should therefore be clear that the position of the inlet and outlet is not a limitation of the method itself.

[0020] Additionally, as will be discussed further, a container may include multiple inlets and / or outlets.

[0021] Heat sinks further include materials that typically have high heat capacity and thermal conductivity, or stated differently, low thermal resistance, and the material may further be selected based on its coefficient of thermal expansion. Thus, the most common heat sink materials are aluminum alloys and copper alloys, but again this does not impose a limitation on the method.

[0022] In the first step of the method, a mesh of the container in a bulk state is generated. In other words, initially, the heat sink is a bulk container that generates a discrete shape. The mesh may include finite elements, volume elements, boundary elements, or any other elements suitable for solving equations in a discretized manner. Alternatively, the mesh may also be generated in a manner that solves the equations using a finite difference method.

[0023] In a second step, a thermal map of the container is generated by applying the thermal load of the components on the generated mesh. As already emphasized, the heat sink will be designed to exchange heat with the components. This means that the components generate heat or need to be heated up when in use. Therefore, the thermal load of the components is applied to the mesh and hot spots, cold spots or general hot spots are identified on the surface and / or in the container through this thermal load.

[0024] The next step is to iteratively solve the fluid flow equations and energy equations imposed on the grid to minimize the thermal resistance of the heat sink by topology optimization methods, according to methods known in the art. Topology optimization methods are mathematical methods that optimize the material layout within a given design space for a given set of thermal loads, boundary conditions, and constraints. The equations are solved iteratively until a convergence criterion is reached.

[0025] The topology optimization method comprises one of the group consisting of: density method, level set method, and / or shape optimization method, and / or moving deformable parts method. In the density method (also called material distribution method), the design is parameterized by a density function, which takes values ​​between zero (voids) and one (material) and thus represents the distribution of material over a domain representing the heat sink. The level set method is a general method for describing the evolution of the frontier, where the boundary is defined by the zero level set of the level set function and theoretically allows for sharp boundaries.

[0026] In shape optimization methods, both the external and internal shapes of a component are optimized. These shapes are usually described by functions of local coordinates rather than by a finite number of parameters. Therefore, the design space is often referred to as infinite dimensional. To cope with this, shape optimization relies on ideas from functional analysis.

[0027] According to an innovative feature of the invention, the method comprises, prior to the solving step, applying on the mesh a channel for the fluid flowing through the heat sink, wherein the channel connects the inlet with the outlet and passes through one or more of the identified hot spots.

[0028] Compared to methods known in the art, the applied channel and therefore its boundaries can no longer be deformed. In other words, when designing a heat sink, the identified obstacles become constant or unchangeable obstacles within the heat sink when continuing with other solution steps.

[0029] To design a channel, first, the mesh including the entire design area is analyzed or simulated to identify hot spots, and the channel is defined by connecting these hot spots. Using this defined channel, a new design area is defined, which, for the topology optimization part, only includes the mesh elements associated with the channel.

[0030] Alternatively, according to an embodiment, the method may further comprise the step of generating a second mesh of the channel after applying the channel, such that the solving step is performed on the second mesh instead of the associated elements belonging to the first mesh. The second mesh may comprise a greater number of elements, or a higher density of elements, than the first mesh, such that a more accurate solution is obtained for the area associated with the applied channel.

[0031] Furthermore, when the heat sink comprises more than one inlet, the applying step comprises applying cooling channels from each inlet to the outlet, wherein the applied channels converge or converge towards the outlet.

[0032] Alternatively, the heat sink may also comprise more than one outlet and only one inlet. In this configuration, the applying step comprises applying cooling channels from one inlet to different outlets, wherein at the region of one inlet the applied channels coincide.

[0033] When the heat sink comprises pairs of inlets and outlets, the applying step comprises applying one channel per pair, preferably without intersecting each other.

[0034] According to an embodiment, the heat sink may further comprise one or more planes of symmetry, and when the heat load on the heat sink is a symmetric heat load coinciding with one or more of the one or more planes of symmetry, the applying step comprises applying the one or more channels symmetrically relative to the one or more planes of symmetry.

[0035] In other words, even in the case where the heat sink comprises one inlet and one outlet, when the heat sink has a plane of symmetry and the heat load is also symmetrical, more than one channel connecting one inlet with one outlet may be applied, as long as the configuration of the applied channels connecting the associated hot spots also remains symmetrical.

[0036] Different advantages of applying the channel or channels (when there is more than one inlet and / or more than one outlet and / or with a symmetrical configuration) before solving the entire mesh of the container have been identified. In the following, reference is made to one applied channel, but as explained, it is also possible to apply multiple applied channels associated with one or more inlets and / or with one or more outlets. Therefore, the identified advantages and technical effects also apply to multiple applied channels connecting one or more inlets with one or more outlets. Further note that this means that the number of applied channels will be limited and depends on the number of inlets and outlets present in the radiator and the symmetry planes.

[0037] First, by connecting the hot spots with the inlet and outlet via the imposed channels, it will be ensured that the final calculated fluid channel maze will more efficiently meet the imposed constraints. The main constraint is the pressure drop of the radiator, which is typically the largest pressure drop in the cooling circuit because the channels are very small. The pressure drop of the radiator is typically limited by the available circulation pump or fan to provide the total pressure drop on the cooling circuit. Most radiator designs are based on pressure drops of the order of 1000Pa to 100000Pa for liquid coolants and 10Pa to 100Pa for air cooling.

[0038] Furthermore, by preliminarily connecting the hot spots with the inlet and outlet via the channels, it is also ensured that other constraints, namely minimizing the average temperature of the container, minimizing the thermal resistance of the heat sink, and / or maximizing the thermal uniformity of the heat sink, are satisfied in the best possible manner. Thus, by performing the initial solution step on the elements associated with the channels, the method will converge to a suitable configuration of the fluid channels in a faster manner.

[0039] The applied channel can connect all identified hot spots, but according to an embodiment, a limited number of hot spots can also be connected, so not all hot spots are connected. In other words, when the channel is applied, it will connect the inlet to the outlet via a dedicated number of hot spots, while ignoring other hot spots. The criteria for selecting hot spots can be based on the conditional constraints of the component. The component may, for example, include an element whose heat dissipation is negligible compared to other elements of the component, and from the perspective of the overall temperature gradient, the hot spots originating from the element will have a smaller impact. Therefore, when the channel is applied in the preliminary solution step, this hot spot can be ignored. Another conditional constraint may, for example, be that there is less need for heat exchange with a specific element of the component. In this case, the hot spots originating from the element can also be ignored.

[0040] Imposing a channel on the mesh can be achieved in different ways. For example, when using a topology optimization function of a topology optimization method, imposing a channel on the mesh can be achieved by applying a value associated with the fluid of the channel and another value associated with the solidity of the obstacle. The first value can be zero and the second value can be one, but this depends on the way the method is implemented, and therefore the applied values ​​can also be reversed or even completely different values ​​can be used. Alternatively and preferably, a complete segmentation of the design mesh can also be performed by converting the elements associated with the channel boundaries into new solid shapes, thereby ensuring zero numerical errors.

[0041] Thus, the mesh elements associated with the obstacles become immutable, fixed, or unchangeable.

[0042] In this way, it is ensured that the main shape of the cooling channel is maintained, while the internal channel structure can be further refined.Furthermore, the number of elements to which values ​​corresponding to fluid or solid are applied depends on the size of the container, the size of the inlet and outlet, and / or the conditional constraints, and therefore it cannot be determined a priori.

[0043] The applied channel can generally have any shape, but it is preferably S-shaped, meaning that it is an uninterrupted channel without branches. Furthermore, it does not have to follow a straight line, but can include several different directions. As a result, the temperature gradient will be better controlled and the constraint that minimizes the thermal resistance of the heat sink will be reached more quickly by the solving algorithm.

[0044] It is also possible to apply an S-shaped channel by distributing the channel over the volume of the container so that the channel covers a large part of the volume, thereby ensuring that thermal gradients are minimized as much as possible.

[0045] According to an embodiment, the width of the applied channel is varied so that the width at the area at the associated hot spot is smaller than the width at other areas of the container. In other words, the density of bends of the applied channel will be greater than the density at other areas. Therefore, in general, the width of the applied channel does not have to be constant.

[0046] According to an embodiment, the solving step is further performed by minimizing thermal gradients between adjacent volume elements, and / or minimizing pressure drop between inlet and outlet, and / or minimizing power dissipation in the coolant and / or minimizing an average temperature of the container.

[0047] Therefore, different solution strategies can be applied, which can be combined or not combined with each other. For example, constraint criteria can be used, such as the maximum allowed pressure drop of the radiator, and / or the maximum thermal gradient between elements. In addition to constraint criteria, convergence criteria can also be considered, such as the total allowed number of iterations of the solution step. It is also possible to stop the next iteration step when the steady-state condition is reached. This means that the design and / or performance no longer changes, or more specifically, is no longer significant. Not significant means, as known to technicians using CFD software, that the next iteration step will not add additional contribution to the design.

[0048] However, it should be understood that the different solution strategies do not affect the innovative concept of pre-applying the channels, and the skilled person knows how to solve the equations after said application step.

[0049] According to an embodiment, the fluid flow equation comprises a momentum equation, and / or a continuity equation, and / or a pressure equation, and / or a constitutive equation.

[0050] The coolant flowing through the radiator channels will be described by the velocity field, which in turn follows the conservation of mass and momentum. The momentum equation further dictates the relationship to the pressure field, which is thus coupled to the velocity field. Alternatively or additionally, the continuity equation can be solved from the pressure field, so instead of solving momentum in combination with the continuity equation, the momentum equation is solved in combination with the pressure equation to automatically satisfy the continuity equation.

[0051] Thus, when the method as discussed is performed, after several iterations, a design is obtained that can be used as a blueprint for producing a heat sink. The heat sink can then be produced by the following steps: cutting a substantially planar solid plate of a certain size from a certain amount of raw material; machining a plurality of iteratively designed flow channels in the substantially planar solid plate, the depth of which is less than the full thickness of the plate; and arranging a substantially planar cover onto the machined plate.

[0052] The designed heat sink can also be 3D printed or formed by sheet metal or die casting or extrusion, or other manufacturing techniques. In 3D printing, the advantage is that no cover is required, which is also the case when considering air cooling such as natural convection.

[0053] According to a second aspect, a heat sink designed according to the method of the first aspect is disclosed, the heat sink being produced, for example, by the method as discussed immediately above.

[0054] According to a third aspect, a data processing system is disclosed, the data processing system comprising means for performing the method according to the first aspect.

[0055] According to a fourth aspect, a computer program product is disclosed comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the method according to the first aspect.

[0056] According to a fifth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions is disclosed, which, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform the steps of the method according to the first aspect.

[0057] According to a sixth aspect, use of the heat sink according to the second aspect for cooling electronic components is disclosed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will be further illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0058] Figure 1 A heat sink including inlet, outlet, obstruction, and imposed channels is shown;

[0059] Figure 2 A heat sink including an inlet, an outlet, several obstacles, and an imposed channel is shown;

[0060] Figure 3 A heat sink including an inlet, an outlet, several obstacles, and an applied channel having varying widths is shown;

[0061] Figure 4 A heat sink including inlet, outlet, imposed channels, and curved obstacles is shown;

[0062] Figure 5 A heat sink including obstacles, imposed channels, and inlets and outlets located in different planes is shown;

[0063] Figure 6 A heat sink is shown including a symmetry plane and further including an inlet, an outlet, an obstacle, and two imposed channels;

[0064] Figure 7 A radiator including an outlet, an obstacle, and two inlets with two imposed channels is shown;

[0065] Figure 8 A first mesh of a container without obstacles for designing a heat sink is shown; and

[0066] Fig. 9 Shows the cooling channel with obstacles after application Figure 8 of grid. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0067] The present invention will be described with respect to certain embodiments and with reference to certain drawings, but the invention is not limited thereto and is limited only by the claims. The drawings described are schematic and non-limiting only. In the drawings, for illustrative purposes, the size of certain elements may be exaggerated and not drawn to scale. The dimensions and relative dimensions do not necessarily correspond to actual application embodiments of the present invention.

[0068] In addition, the terms "first", "second", "third", etc. are used in the specification and claims to distinguish similar elements, and not necessarily to describe a sequential or chronological order. These terms are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances, and embodiments of the present invention may be used in sequences other than those described or illustrated herein.

[0069] Furthermore, the terms "top", "bottom", "above", "below", etc. in the description and claims are used for descriptive purposes and not necessarily to describe relative positions. The terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances, and the embodiments of the invention described herein may be used in orientations other than those described or illustrated herein.

[0070] Further, although referred to as "preferred embodiments," the various embodiments should be construed as exemplary embodiments in which the invention may be practiced, and not as limitations on the scope of the invention.

[0071] The term "comprising" used in the claims should not be interpreted as being limited to the devices or steps set forth below; the term does not exclude other elements or steps. The term should be interpreted as specifying the presence of the named features, elements, steps or components mentioned, but does not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, steps or components or groups thereof. Therefore, the scope of the expression "a device comprises devices A and B" should not be limited to the device consisting of only components A and B. The meaning is that with respect to the present invention, only components A and B of the device are listed, and the claims are further interpreted to include equivalents of these components.

[0072] The figures show a two-dimensional heat sink, but it should be further understood that the designed heat sink is implemented as a three-dimensional heat sink. Therefore, the disclosed method can be applied in three dimensions, but for ease of understanding, the method will be further explained with reference to the figures drawn in two dimensions.

[0073] Figures 1 to 7 A heat sink having at least one inlet 100 and one outlet 200 is disclosed. Each of the heat sinks 500-506 shown also includes one or more obstacles 300 and at least one applied channel 400.

[0074] Figure 8 A heat sink comprising a container having a first grid 600 and no obstructions is shown. Fig. 9 Shown with Figure 8 The same heat sink as in, but after the step of applying the channels.

[0075] refer to Figure 8 , a method for designing a heat sink is disclosed. First, start with a solid plate 507 having an inlet 100 and an outlet 200. When designing, the inlet 100 and the outlet 200 are used to guide the fluid within the heat sink. The fluid is, for example, a coolant used to exchange heat with a component that generates heat, and is therefore used in this case to cool the component. In this illustrative example, the plate is rectangular, but it should be further understood that the plate can have any other shape. Although not shown, the shape can be adapted to the shape of the component with which the heat is exchanged, and / or to the device in which the heat sink and the component are integrated. In addition, the inlet 100 and the outlet 200 can include tubes, or can also be rectangular, and can further be positioned in different planes, such as Figures 4 to 7 shown.

[0076] In a first step, a container within the plate is defined from which a grid 600 is generated. The grid 600 may be formed as follows: Figure 8 It is shown covering a portion of the container, but it is also possible to cover the entire volume of the container. The choice of grid 600 will depend on the desired result of the design, taking into account the entire volume, and can therefore be selected in advance. In this illustration, the space to the left and right of the grid 600 is therefore considered to be hollow in the final design used to produce the heat sink.

[0077] With hollow spaces on the left and right sides and considering the space of the grid is also hollow, the fluid can flow as shown by arrow 410, but as fluid dynamics technicians know, the actual flow will deviate from the direction due to factors such as turbulence.

[0078] In order to guide the fluid within the container so that the fluid meets the imposed constraints, such as the pressure drop as discussed in the previous section, in a first step, the heat load originating from the components (not shown) on the mesh is calculated. As a result, hot spots are identified. These hot spots represent locations on the container where the temperature is locally at its highest or lowest value (compared to the area near the location). Next, once these hot spots are located, in the next step, channels are applied, such as Fig. 9 400 in the figure. Depending on the function of the heat sink (i.e. cooling or heating components), the applied channels are cooling channels or heating channels.

[0079] Subsequently, when channel 400 is applied, obstacles 300 are identified. These obstacles represent solid material within the container, which means that the elements of grid 601 associated with the obstacles become fixed or unchangeable. As a result, grid 600 is transformed into grid 601, such as Fig. 9As a subsequent step, mesh 601 may be re-meshed compared to mesh 601 so that it may include more or even fewer elements per volume unit.

[0080] The next step is to repeatedly solve the fluid flow equations and energy equations on the grid 601 until convergence criteria are reached as described above. The result is a specific design of the heat sink 508 configured to exchange heat with a specific component.

[0081] refer to Figures 1 to 7 It will also be appreciated that the applied channels and hence the obstacles may have different forms.

[0082] exist Figure 1 In FIG. 5 , a simple configuration is shown, wherein the heat sink 500 comprises a single inlet 100 and a single outlet 200 , and the applied channel 400 follows a curve, thereby creating a single obstacle 300 .

[0083] exist Figure 2 , the path of the applied channel 400 within the heat sink 501 is more complex, resulting in multiple obstacles 300. Note that the path of the channel 400 depends on the location of the hot spots identified in the preliminary steps of the method.

[0084] Figure 3 A heat sink 502 is shown in which the width of the applied channel 400 is variable, ie the width decreases as seen from the inlet 100 towards the outlet 200. As a result, the obstacles 300 will also be closer to each other as the width decreases.

[0085] like Figure 4 and Figure 5 As shown, it should also be noted that the inlet 100 and the outlet 200 may also be positioned on different planes. The location of the inlet 100 and the outlet 200 may be, for example, a constraint of the device in which the heat sink 503, 504 is to be integrated.

[0086] In addition, reference Figure 4 , the obstacle 300 may also be curved instead of having a straight shape.

[0087] refer to Figure 6 , the method further comprises applying two or more channels 400, 401 connecting the inlet 100 to the outlet 200. Note that, Figure 6 The heat sink 505 has a symmetry plane. Although not shown, it is further assumed that the heat load on the heat sink is also symmetrical and coincides with the symmetry plane of the heat sink 505 from a geometric point of view.

[0088] In this design, there will be two channels 400, 401 imposed in the heat sink 505. The heat sink 505 will in turn include obstacles 300 that are not directly connected to the outer wall or its borders, but note that the borders are connected to the top and / or bottom layers of the heat sink 505. Therefore, note that these obstacles 300 are rigid obstacles within the heat sink 505.

[0089] When the heat sink 506 comprises more than one inlet 100, 101, two or more channels may also be applied, such as Figure 7 As shown. In this case, obstacles 300, 301, 302 can be identified per channel 400, 401, but this does not change the innovative concept of the method. Further note that the two applied channels 400, 401 will converge 402 towards the outlet 200.

[0090] In discussing these drawings, reference numeral 100 is used (when referring to Figure 7 100-101) indicates an inlet, and 200 indicates an outlet. Thus, the direction of the channels 400-402 applied is from the inlet 100 to the outlet 200. However, it should be noted that the heat sinks 500-508 shown can also be designed and subsequently used in the opposite manner. In other words, the inlet becomes the outlet and vice versa. Figure 7 , which means that the heat sink 506 comprises one inlet, now referenced 200, and two outlets, now referenced 100-101. However, it should be clear that this does not change the innovative concept of applying channels connecting the inlet to the outlets as discussed above.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for designing a heat sink (500-508), the heat sink comprising a container, the container comprising means for directing a coolant from an inlet (100) to an outlet (200) of the container, the container being designed to exchange heat with a component, the method The following steps are involved: - generating a first mesh (600) of the container, the first mesh (600) comprising elements defining a discrete shape of the container in a bulk state; - generating a thermal map of the container by applying a thermal load of the component on the first grid, thereby identifying one or more hot spots; - repeatedly solving the fluid flow equation and the energy equation applied to the first grid by a topology optimization method to minimize the thermal resistance of the heat sink (500-508) and / or maximize the thermal uniformity of the heat sink; It is characterized in that The method further comprises the following steps before the solving step: - applying channels (400) for the coolant on the first grid (600) by connecting the inlet (100) to the outlet (200) via one or more of the one or more hot spots -402), thereby identifying obstacles (300-302) for the coolant within the first grid (600); And wherein the solving step is performed in advance on the elements associated with the channels (400-402).

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, It is characterized in that When the heat sink (500-508) comprises more than one inlet (100-101), the applying step comprises applying a channel (400-402) from each inlet (100-101) to the outlet (200), and whereby the channels (400-402) converge towards the outlet (200).

3. A computer-implemented method according to any one of the preceding claims, It is characterized in that When the heat sink (500-508) includes one or more planes of symmetry, and when the heat load on the heat sink (500-508) is a symmetric heat load that coincides with one or more of the one or more planes of symmetry, the applying step includes applying one or more channels (400-402) symmetrically relative to the one or more planes of symmetry.

4. A computer-implemented method according to any one of the preceding claims, It is characterized in that The one or more hot spots associated with the channel (300) are selected based on conditional constraints of the component.

5. A computer-implemented method according to any one of the preceding claims, It is characterized in that The width of the applied channel (300) varies so that the width at the area at the associated hot spot is smaller than other areas, preferably between 66% and 75% of the maximum width, more preferably less than 66% of the maximum width, and most preferably less than 33% of the maximum width.

6. A computer-implemented method according to any one of the preceding claims, It is characterized in that The method further comprises the step of generating a second mesh (601) of the container by omitting the obstacle (300), and thereby further performing the solving step on the second mesh (601).

7. A computer-implemented method according to any one of the preceding claims, It is characterized in that The topology optimization method comprises one of the group consisting of a density method, a level set method and / or a shape optimization method.

8. A computer-implemented method according to any one of the preceding claims, It is characterized in that The solving step is further performed by minimizing thermal gradients between adjacent volume elements, and / or minimizing a pressure drop between the inlet (100) and the outlet (200), and / or minimizing an average temperature of the vessel.

9. A computer-implemented method according to any one of the preceding claims, It is characterized in that The element comprises one of the group consisting of a volume element, a finite element, a boundary element or a finite difference.

10. A computer-implemented method according to any one of the preceding claims, It is characterized in that The fluid flow equations include momentum equations, and / or continuity equations, and / or pressure equations, and / or constitutive equations.

11. A heat sink (500-508) designed according to the method of any of the preceding claims.

12. A data processing system comprising means for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

13. A computer program product comprising instructions which, when said program is executed by a computer, cause said computer to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

14. A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

15. Use of the heat sink (500-508) according to claim 11 for exchanging heat with electronic components.

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