Computer-implemented method for designing heat sinks

Abstract

According to one embodiment, a method for designing a heat sink (500-508) is disclosed, the heat sink (500-508) comprising a vessel designed to exchange heat with a component and having means for conducting a coolant from an inlet (100) to an outlet (200), the method comprising the steps of: generating a first mesh (600) including elements defining a discretized shape of the vessel in a mass state; generating a heat map of the vessel by imposing heat loads of the component on the first mesh, thereby identifying hot spots; minimizing the thermal resistance of the heat sink (500-508); and iteratively solving the fluid flow equations and energy equations enforced on the first mesh by a topology optimization method by maximizing the thermal uniformity of the first mesh and / or the heat sink, further comprising the step of enforcing channels (400-402) on the first mesh (600) by connecting the inlet (100) with the outlet (200) through thermal spots, thereby identifying obstacles (300-302) in the first mesh (600) for the coolant, wherein the solving step is performed in advance for elements associated with the channels.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of heat sinks, and in particular to heat sinks for heating devices, including heat-generating components such as electronic components and / or heating devices such as batteries. [Background technology]

[0002] A heat sink is a passive heat exchanger designed to exchange heat with a device that has components that generate heat, such as electronic components, or components that need to be heated, such as a battery. A heat sink transfers thermal energy from a hotter device to a cooler fluid medium, or vice versa.

[0003] Heat sinks are designed to maximize heat transfer to the surrounding cooling medium, such as air. Cooling medium velocity, 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 regulate the temperature of an electronic component, thereby ensuring its functional performance and / or operational lifespan. However, with the continued miniaturization of electronic devices, the heat dissipation rate exceeds the limits of classical pin-fin type heat sinks or straight-fin type heat sinks, or variations or combinations of both. Therefore, custom-made heat sinks are needed.

[0005] EP 3625824 B1 discloses a heat sink comprising a substantially planar solid slab provided with a plurality of fluid flow channels configured to conduct coolant from an inlet to an outlet of the slab, the plurality of channels including at least two main channels interconnected by at least a plurality of bridge channels that do not further branch between their respective attachment points to the main channels, the bridge channels having a cross section that locally increases in the direction of flow and, downstream of the local increase in cross section, the bridge channels having a cross section that locally decreases in the direction of flow.

[0006] US Patent Application Publication No. 2014 / 091453A1 discloses a cooling device having a base including an exterior, an interior, an inlet, and an outlet, wherein a heat-generating element is connected to the exterior, and a plurality of pin-shaped radiator fins are located inside the base in a portion close to the heat-generating element, the radiator fins are arranged from the inlet to the outlet, and the cooling device cools the heat-generating element using a cooling medium flowing through the interior of the base from the inlet to the outlet, and each of the radiator fins includes a transverse cross section having a dimension in the flow direction of the cooling medium and a dimension in a transverse direction perpendicular to the flow direction of the cooling medium, the dimension in the flow direction being longer than the dimension in the transverse direction, and the radiator fins are separated from each other in the transverse direction by a predetermined distance.

[0007] U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009 / 145581A1 discloses a non-linear fin heat sink comprising a base and a plurality of fins disposed on an upper surface of the base, each fin having a fin longitudinal cross-sectional dimension and a fin transverse cross-sectional dimension, the fins arranged in a plurality of longitudinal rows and a plurality of transverse rows, a top lid disposed on top of the fins, the base and the top lid forming an internal flow boundary, one side of the heat sink being a leading edge for inflow and the corresponding side of the heat sink being a trailing edge for outflow.

[0008] In addition to these prior art documents, there are numerous other documents disclosing different types of heat sinks. It is therefore clear that the use of heat sinks is well known. Furthermore, different types are each suited to specific devices and / or purposes. However, just because a particular type of heat sink is suited to a particular device or purpose, this does not immediately imply that that type can be used without limitation or hindrance for another device or purpose. Such suitability must be investigated on a case-by-case basis.

[0009] Another possibility is to design the heat sink in terms of its purpose, i.e., the heat-generating components and the constraints imposed by the device in which it will be integrated, or by the materials or the environment in which it will be used, resulting in a tailor-made heat sink.

[0010] In his doctoral thesis "Optimal Heat Sink Design for Liquid Cooling of Electronics" by T. Van Oevelen (KU Leuven, November 2014), a numerical design method for advanced micro heat sinks is presented to obtain such custom-made heat sinks. Two approaches to designing the heat sink are considered: on the one hand, shape optimization of a single microchannel, and on the other hand, topology optimization of the heat sink.

[0011] 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 65, 221 (2022). https: / / doi.org / 10.1007 / s00158-022-03315-9 discloses an integrated two-step strategy for the optimal design of liquid-cooled channel layout based on the moving deformable component (MMC) density approach.

[0012] In "Multidisciplinary optimization of liquid cooled heat sinks with compound jet / channel structures arranged in a multipass configuration" by B.T. Li, C.H. Xie, X.X. Y. In "Multidisciplinary optimization of liquid cooled heat sinks with compound jet / channel structures arranged in a multipass configuration," Applied Thermal Engineering, Volume 195, (2021), https: / / doi.org / 10.1016 / j.applthermaleng.2021.117159, an integrated optimization strategy is developed, which includes two different topology optimization tools: a moving deformable component-based optimization tool (MMC) for initial topology prediction, and a density-based optimization tool (SIMP) for subsequent topology refinement.

[0013] Marco K. Swierstra et al., "Automated and Accurate Geometry Extraction and Shape Optimization of 3D Topology Optimization Results," arXiv:2004.05448v1 (2020), https: / / doi.org / 10.48550 / arXiv.2004.05448, presents topology optimization and shape optimization in a two-step process.

[0014] The problem, however, is that it may not always be possible to guarantee that the final result will satisfy the constraints imposed by the purpose of the component, device, and / or heat sink. In such cases, the calculations and corresponding iterations must be repeated entirely with parameters that are slightly or completely different from the initial parameters, and even then, the design iteration loop performed, for example, by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software, may not necessarily converge to an acceptable final result.

[0015] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to alleviate the above drawbacks and to provide an improved solution for efficient and rapid heat sink design. Summary of the Invention [Means for solving the problem]

[0016] In a first aspect, this object is achieved by a computer-implemented method according to claim 1 for designing a heat sink, the heat sink comprising a vessel including means for directing a coolant from an inlet to an outlet of the vessel, the vessel being designed to exchange heat with a component, the computer-implemented method comprising the steps of: generating a first mesh of the vessel, the first mesh including elements defining a discretized shape of the vessel in a mass state; generating a heat map of the vessel by forcing the heat load of the component against the first mesh, thereby identifying one or more heat spots; and minimizing the thermal resistance of the heat sink; and / or a step of iteratively solving fluid flow equations and energy equations enforced on a first mesh by a topology optimization method by maximizing the thermal uniformity of the heat sink, further comprising, prior to the solving step, a step of forcing a channel for the coolant on the first mesh by connecting an inlet with an outlet through one or more of the one or more heat spots, thereby identifying obstacles (also referred to as baffles and / or barriers in the first mesh for the coolant), wherein the solving step is performed in advance for elements associated with the channel.

[0017] A heat sink designed by the disclosed method comprises 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 mixture of coolants, such as water and glycol, can be conducted from the inlet to the outlet. Thus, within the container, there are multiple fluid flow channels for conducting the fluid. The efficiency of the heat sink in terms of exchanging heat with a component depends on the configuration of the multiple fluid channels, which must be adapted to the component itself. In other words, there is no single configuration that is compatible with any type of component, and furthermore, it must be adapted to the specific purpose. Thus, by this method, a labyrinth structure of fluid channels is designed after several iterations to meet the constraints required by the component and / or the device in which the component and heat sink are integrated.

[0018] The shape of the container can also be adapted to its purpose and therefore can have a shape adapted to the shape of the component or part thereof: it can be a beam shape with rounded boundaries, although it is clear that other shapes are possible as well.

[0019] The location of the inlet and outlet may also be adapted to the purpose, but may also be arranged by taking into account the device in which the heat sink will be integrated with the components. Again, it will be clear that the location of the inlet and outlet is not a limitation of the method itself.

[0020] Moreover, as discussed further below, the vessel may include multiple inlets and / or outlets.

[0021] Heat sinks generally comprise materials with high heat capacity and thermal conductivity, or materials with low thermal resistance in different formulations, and may further be selected based on their thermal expansion coefficients. Thus, the most common heat sink materials are aluminum alloys and copper alloys, although again, no limitations are imposed in this respect.

[0022] In the first step of the method, a mesh of the vessel is generated in its bulk state. In other words, the heat sink is a bulk vessel for which a discretized shape is first generated. The mesh may include finite elements, volume elements, boundary elements, or other elements suitable for solving the equations in a discretized manner. Alternatively, the mesh may also be generated so that the equations are solved using finite difference methods.

[0023] In a second step, a heat map of the container is generated by imposing the thermal load of the components on the generated mesh. As already emphasized, the heat sink will be designed to exchange heat with the component. This means that the component either generates heat or needs to be heated when in use. It is therefore the thermal load of the component imposed on the mesh that identifies hot spots, cold spots, or generally heat spots on the surface and / or within the container.

[0024] According to methods known in the art, the next step is to iteratively solve the fluid flow and energy equations imposed on the mesh by topology optimization, minimizing the thermal resistance of the heat sink. Topology optimization is a mathematical method that optimizes the layout of materials within a given design space for a given set of thermal loads, boundary conditions, and constraints. The equation solving step is repeated until a convergence criterion is reached.

[0025] Topology optimization methods include one of the following groups: density methods, level set methods, and / or shape optimization methods, and / or moving deformable component methods. In density methods, also known as material distribution methods, the design is parameterized by a density function that takes values ​​from zero (void) to one (material), thus representing the distribution of material over a region representing a heat sink. Level set methods are a common way to describe the evolution of a front, where the boundary is defined by the zero level set of the level set function, theoretically allowing for sharp boundaries.

[0026] Shape optimization methods optimize the external and internal shapes of components. These shapes are typically described by functions of local coordinates rather than a finite number of parameters. As a result, the design space is often referred to as infinite-dimensional. To address this, shape optimization relies on the concept of functional analysis.

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

[0028] In contrast to methods known in the art, the forced channel, and therefore also its boundary, can no longer be deformed, in other words the identified obstacle becomes a permanent or unalterable obstacle in the heat sink when proceeding with other solving steps during the design of the heat sink.

[0029] To design the channel, a mesh containing the entire design domain is first analyzed or simulated to identify hot spots, and the channel is defined by connecting these hot spots. Using this defined channel, a new design domain is defined for the topology optimization portion, containing only the elements of the mesh related to the channel.

[0030] Alternatively, according to an embodiment, the method may further comprise the step of generating a second mesh of the channel after forcing the solving step to be performed on the second mesh rather than on the relevant elements belonging to the first mesh, which may comprise a larger number of elements or a higher density of elements compared to the first mesh so as to obtain a more accurate solution for this region associated with the forced channel.

[0031] Furthermore, if the heat sink comprises two or more inlets, the forcing step may include forcing the cooling channels for each inlet relative to the outlet, such that the forcing channels meet or converge towards the outlet.

[0032] Alternatively, the heat sink may include two or more outlets and only one inlet, in which case the forcing step includes forcing cooling channels from a single inlet to different outlets, such that in the region of one inlet the forcing channels coincide.

[0033] If the heat sink comprises pairs of inlets and outlets, the forcing step comprises forcing the channels in pairs, preferably without crossing each other.

[0034] According to one embodiment, the heat sink may also comprise one or more planes of symmetry, and if the thermal load on the heat sink is a symmetric thermal load coinciding with one or more of the one or more planes of symmetry, the forcing step includes forcing the one or more channels symmetrically with respect to the one or more planes of symmetry.

[0035] In other words, even if a heat sink has one inlet and one outlet, but 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 can be forced, as long as the configuration of the forced channels connecting the relevant heat spots similarly maintains symmetry.

[0036] Before solving the entire mesh of the vessel, different advantages of forcing a channel or in the case of multiple channels when they have two or more inlets and / or two or more outlets and / or have a symmetrical configuration are identified. In the remainder of the text, reference is made to a single forcing channel, but as explained, multiple forcing channels linked to one or more inlets and / or one or more outlets can be similarly forcing. Therefore, the identified advantages and technical effects also apply to multiple forcing channels linking one or more inlets with one or more outlets. It is further noted that this implies that the number of forcing channels will be limited and will depend on the number of inlets and outlets present in the heat sink and the number of symmetry planes.

[0037] First, by coupling the heat spots with the inlets and outlets via forced channels, the final computed labyrinth structure of fluid channels is ensured to more efficiently meet the forced constraints. The main constraint is the pressure drop across the heat sink, since for very small channels, this is typically the largest pressure drop in the cooling loop. The pressure drop of the heat sink is typically limited by the available circulation pump or fan that provides the total pressure drop across the cooling loop. Most heat sink designs are based on pressure drops on the order of 1,000 Pa to 100,000 Pa for liquid coolants and 10 Pa to 100 Pa for air cooling.

[0038] Furthermore, by preliminarily connecting the inlets and outlets of the heat spots with channels, it is ensured that other constraints are also maximally satisfied, i.e., minimizing the average temperature across the vessel, minimizing the thermal resistance of the heat sink, and / or maximizing the thermal uniformity of the heat sink. Thus, by performing an initial solution step on the elements associated with the channels, the method rapidly converges to an appropriate configuration of the fluid channels.

[0039] While the forced channel may connect all identified heat spots, in some embodiments, it may connect only a limited number of heat spots, but not all of them. In other words, when a channel is forced, it will connect the inlet to the outlet through a certain number of heat spots while ignoring other heat spots. The criteria for which heat spots need to be selected may be based on the conditional constraints of the component. For example, a component may include an element whose heat dissipation is negligible compared to other elements, and a heat spot caused by that element will have a small impact in terms of the overall temperature gradient. Therefore, this heat spot may be ignored when forcing a channel in the preliminary solving step. Another conditional constraint may arise, for example, when the need for heat exchange with a particular element of the component is low. In this case, a heat spot caused by that element may likewise be ignored.

[0040] Forcing channels onto a mesh can be achieved in various ways. For example, when using a topology optimization function of a topology optimization method, forcing channels onto a mesh can be achieved by forcing a value associated with a fluid onto the channel and another value associated with a solid onto the obstacle. The first value can be zero and the second value can be one, but this depends on how the method is implemented; the forced values ​​can also be reversed or even used completely differently. Alternatively, and preferably, a complete division of the design mesh can be performed as well, by converting elements associated with the channel boundaries into a new solid shape, thereby ensuring zero numerical errors.

[0041] Thus, the elements of the mesh that relate to the obstacles become immutable, fixed, or unchangeable.

[0042] In this way, it is ensured that the main shape of the cooling channels is maintained while the internal channel structure can be further refined. Furthermore, the number of elements whose values ​​correspond to the imposed fluids or solids depends on the size of the vessel, the size of the inlets and outlets, and / or conditional constraints, and therefore cannot be determined in advance.

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

[0044] The S-shaped channels can also be forced by distributing the channels over the volume of the vessel in such a way as to cover most of the volume of the vessel, thereby ensuring that thermal gradients are minimized as much as possible.

[0045] According to one embodiment, the width of the force channel varies so that it is smaller in the region of the associated heat spot compared to the width in other regions of the container. In other words, the density of bends in the force channel is greater than in other regions. Therefore, in general, the width of the force channel does not have to be constant.

[0046] According to one embodiment, the solving step is further performed by minimizing the thermal gradient between adjacent volume elements, and / or by minimizing the pressure drop between the inlet and the outlet, and / or by minimizing the power loss in the coolant, and / or by minimizing the average temperature across the vessel.

[0047] Therefore, different solution strategies may be applied, whether or not combined with each other. For example, constraints such as the maximum allowable pressure drop across the heat sink and / or the maximum thermal gradient between elements may be used. Besides constraints, convergence criteria such as the total number of allowable iterations of the solving step may also be considered. The next iterative step may also be stopped if a steady state is reached. The latter means that the design and / or performance no longer changes, more specifically, that it is no longer significant. Not significant means that the next iterative step does not bring any additional contribution to the design, as known to those skilled in the art of using CFD software.

[0048] However, it should be understood that different solution strategies do not affect the innovative concept of pre-constraining the channel, and that one skilled in the art would know how to solve the equations after that forcing step.

[0049] According to one embodiment, the fluid flow equations include momentum equations, and / or continuity equations, and / or pressure equations, and / or constitutive equations.

[0050] The coolant flowing through the heat sink channels will be described by a velocity field whose order obeys the laws of conservation of mass and momentum. The momentum equations further define the relationship to the pressure field and are therefore coupled to the velocity field. Alternatively or additionally, the continuity equations can be solved from the pressure field, so that instead of solving the momentum coupled to the continuity equation, solving the momentum equations coupled to the pressure equation will automatically satisfy the continuity equations.

[0051] As a result, after several iterations in carrying out the above-described method, a design is obtained that can be used as a blueprint for the production of a heat sink. The heat sink can then be produced by cutting and sizing a substantially planar solid slab from multiple stock materials, machining the iteratively designed channels into the substantially planar solid slab to a depth less than the full thickness of the slab, and placing a substantially planar lid over the machined slab.

[0052] The designed heat sink can also be 3D printed or formed from sheet metal, die-cast, extrusion, or other manufacturing techniques. The advantage of 3D printing is that it eliminates the need for a lid, which would otherwise be required if air cooling by natural convection were to be considered.

[0053] According to a second aspect, a heat sink designed according to the method of the first aspect, for example manufactured by the method just described above, is disclosed.

[0054] According to a third aspect, a data processing system is disclosed 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 that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method according to the first aspect.

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

[0057] According to a sixth aspect, there is disclosed a use of a heat sink according to the second aspect for cooling an electronic component.

[0058] The invention will be further explained with reference to the following figures. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0059] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 shows a heat sink with an inlet, an outlet, one obstruction, and a forced channel. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 illustrates a heat sink with an inlet, an outlet, multiple obstructions, and a forced channel. [Figure 3] FIG. 1 shows a heat sink with an inlet, an outlet, multiple obstructions, and one forcing channel of varying width. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 shows a heat sink with an inlet, an outlet, a forced channel, and a curved obstruction. [Figure 5] FIG. 1 shows a heat sink with obstacles, forced channels, and inlets and outlets located in different planes. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 illustrates a heat sink including a plane of symmetry and further comprising an inlet, an outlet, multiple obstructions, and two force channels. [Figure 7] FIG. 1 shows a heat sink with an outlet, multiple obstacles, and two forced channels. [Figure 8] FIG. 1 shows a first mesh of a container without obstacles for designing a heat sink. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 shows the mesh of FIG. 8 with an obstruction after forcing the cooling channel. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0060] The present invention will be described with respect to particular embodiments and with reference to certain drawings, but the present invention is not limited thereto and is defined only by the claims. The drawings described are schematic and non-limiting. In the drawings, the size of certain elements may be exaggerated and not drawn to scale for illustrative purposes. The dimensions and relative dimensions do not necessarily correspond to actual practical embodiments of the invention.

[0061] Additionally, in this specification and claims, terms such as "first," "second," and "third" are used to distinguish between similar elements and do not necessarily describe an order or chronological order. These terms are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances, and embodiments of the invention may be used in orders other than those described or illustrated herein.

[0062] Furthermore, terms such as "top," "bottom," "upper," "lower," and the like in the specification and claims are used for descriptive purposes and do not necessarily describe relative positions. Such terms are used interchangeably under appropriate circumstances, and embodiments of the invention described herein may be used in orientations other than those depicted or illustrated herein.

[0063] Moreover, various embodiments, although referred to as "preferred embodiments," should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention, but rather as illustrative of how the invention may be practiced.

[0064] The term "comprising" used in the claims should not be interpreted as being limited to the means or steps listed below, nor should the term exclude other elements or steps. The term should be interpreted as specifying the presence of the named feature, element, step, or component mentioned, and not excluding the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, steps, or components, or groups thereof. Thus, the scope of the expression "a device comprising means A and B" should not be limited to a device consisting of only components A and B. The meaning should further be interpreted as meaning that, with respect to the invention in which only components A and B of a device are recited, equivalents of these components are also included within the scope of the claims.

[0065] Although the figures show two-dimensional heat sinks, it should be further understood that the designed heat sink will be a three-dimensional heat sink, and therefore, for ease of understanding, the methods will be further described with reference to the two-dimensionally depicted figures, although the disclosed methods are also applicable in three dimensions.

[0066] 1-7 all disclose heat sinks having at least one inlet 100 and one outlet 200. Each of the illustrated heat sinks 500-506 also includes one or more obstructions 300 and at least one forced channel 400.

[0067] Figure 8 shows a heat sink with a container without obstacles, with a first mesh 600. Figure 9 shows the same heat sink as Figure 8, but after the step of forcing the channels.

[0068] Referring to FIG. 8, a method for designing a heat sink is disclosed. Starting with a solid slab 507 having an inlet 100 and an outlet 200, the inlet 100 and outlet 200 are used to direct a fluid through the heat sink. The fluid may be, for example, a coolant for exchanging heat with a heat-generating component, thus cooling that component. In this illustrated example, the slab is rectangular; however, it should be further understood that the slab may have other shapes. While not shown, the shape may be adapted to the shape of the component exchanging heat and / or to the device in which the heat sink and component are integrated. Furthermore, the inlet 100 and outlet 200 may comprise tubes, be rectangular, and even be located in different planes, as shown in FIGS. 4-7.

[0069] In a first step, a container within a slab is defined, from which a mesh 600 is generated. The mesh 600 can cover a portion of the container, as shown in Figure 8, but can also cover the entire volume of the container. The choice of mesh 600 in terms of the entire volume will depend on the desired outcome of the design and can therefore be pre-selected. In this illustration, the spaces on the left and right of mesh 600 will therefore be considered hollow in the final design used to produce the heat sink.

[0070] With hollow spaces on the left and right sides, and considering the mesh spaces to be hollow as well, fluid may flow as shown by arrow 410, although the actual flow will deviate from that direction due to turbulence, among other factors, as known to those skilled in fluid mechanics.

[0071] In a first step, the heat load on the mesh due to components (not shown) is calculated to direct the fluid in the vessel to satisfy the enforced constraints, such as pressure drop, as discussed in the section above. As a result, heat spots are identified. These heat spots represent locations on the vessel where the temperature is locally at its highest or lowest value compared to the area nearby that location. Then, once these heat spots are located, the next step is to enforce channels, as shown in FIG. 9 at 400. These enforced channels can be cooling or heating channels, depending on the functionality of the heat sink, i.e., whether to cool or heat the component.

[0072] Then, as channel 400 is forced, obstacles 300 are identified. These obstacles represent solid material within the vessel, meaning that the elements of mesh 601 that are associated with the obstacles are fixed or unchangeable. As a result, mesh 600 is transformed into mesh 601, as shown in Figure 9. As a subsequent step, mesh 601 can be remeshed compared to mesh 601, in the sense that it may have more or even fewer elements per unit volume.

[0073] The next step is to iteratively solve the fluid flow and energy equations on this mesh 601a until a convergence criterion is reached as described above, resulting in a specific design of the heat sink 508 configured to exchange heat with a specific component.

[0074] With reference to Figures 1-7, it should be further understood that the forced channels, and therefore the obstructions, may have different configurations as well.

[0075] In FIG. 1 a simple configuration is shown whereby the heat sink 500 has a single inlet 100 and a single outlet 200 whereby the forced channel 400 follows one curve and presents a single obstruction 300.

[0076] 2, the path of the forced channel 400 in the heat sink 501 is more complex, resulting in multiple obstructions 300. Note that the path of the channel 400 depends on the location of the heat spots identified in the preliminary steps of the method.

[0077] 3 shows a heat sink 502 that causes the width of the channel 400 to vary, i.e., decrease from the inlet 100 to the outlet 200. As a result, the obstructions 300 are also positioned closer together as the width decreases.

[0078] It is further noted that the inlet 100 and outlet 200 may also be located on different planes, as shown in Figures 4 and 5. The location of the inlet 100 and outlet 200 may be a constraint for the device into which, for example, the heat sinks 503, 504 will be integrated.

[0079] Furthermore, referring to FIG. 4, the obstacle 300 may also be curved rather than being straight in shape.

[0080] Referring to Figure 6, the method also includes forcing two or more channels 400, 401 connecting the inlet 100 to the outlet 200. Note that the heat sink 505 in Figure 6 has a plane of symmetry. Although not shown, it is further assumed that the thermal load on the heat sink is similarly symmetrical and coincides with the plane of symmetry of the heat sink 505 from a geometric standpoint.

[0081] This design forces two channels 400, 401 in the heat sink 505. Note that the heat sink 505 includes obstacles 300 that are not directly connected to the outer wall or boundary, but the boundary is connected to the top and / or bottom layers of the heat sink 505. Therefore, these obstacles 300 become rigid obstacles within the heat sink 505.

[0082] 7, when the heat sink 506 comprises two or more inlets 100, 101, two or more channels can also be forced. In this case, an obstruction 300, 301, 302 can be specified for each channel 400, 401, but this does not change the innovative concept of the method. Furthermore, it should be noted that the two forced channels 400, 401 converge together (402) towards the outlet 200.

[0083] The figures are considered with reference number 100 (reference numbers 100-101 when referring to FIG. 7) as the inlet and reference number 200 as the outlet. The direction of the forcing channels 400-402 is therefore from the inlet 100 to the outlet 200. However, it should be noted that the illustrated heat sinks 500-508 may also be designed in the reverse direction and subsequently used in the reverse direction. In other words, the inlet becomes the outlet and vice versa. With reference to FIG. 7, this suggests that the heat sink 506 comprises one inlet (here reference number 200) and two outlets (here reference numbers 100-101). However, it will be clear that this does not change the innovative concept of forcing channels connecting the inlet and the outlet, as described above.

Claims

1. 1. A computer-implemented method for designing a heat sink (500-508) comprising a container, the container including means for conducting 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 comprising: - generating a first mesh (600) of said vessel, said first mesh (600) comprising elements that define in a mass state the discretized shape of said vessel; - generating a heat map of the container by forcing heat loads of the components against the first mesh, thereby identifying one or more heat spots; - iteratively solving the fluid flow and energy equations imposed on said first mesh by a topology optimization method, by minimizing the thermal resistance of said heat sink (500-508) and / or maximizing the thermal uniformity of said heat sink; A computer-implemented method comprising: Prior to the solving step, - forcing a channel (400-402) for the coolant against the first mesh (600) by connecting the inlet (100) with the outlet (200) through one or more of the one or more heat spots, thereby identifying an obstruction (300-302) in the first mesh (600) for the coolant; 10. A computer-implemented method, wherein the solving step is performed in advance for elements associated with the channel (400-402).

2. 2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein if the heat sink (500-508) comprises two or more inlets (100-101), the forcing step comprises forcing a channel (400-402) for each inlet (100-101) relative to the outlet (200), whereby the channels (400-402) converge towards the outlet (200).

3. 3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein if the heat sink (500-508) comprises one or more planes of symmetry, and if the thermal load on the heat sink (500-508) is a symmetric thermal load coincident with one or more of the one or more planes of symmetry, the forcing step comprises forcing one or more channels (400-402) symmetrically with respect to the one or more planes of symmetry.

4. The computer-implemented method of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the one or more heat spots associated with the channel (300) are selected based on conditional constraints of the component.

5. 5. A computer-implemented method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the width of the forcing channel (300) varies such that the width in the region of the associated heat spot is smaller than in other regions, 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. 6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising generating a second mesh (601) of the vessel by omitting the obstacle (300), whereby the solving step is further performed on the second mesh (601).

7. The computer-implemented method of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the topology optimization method comprises one of the group of density methods, level set methods, and / or shape optimization methods.

8. 8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the solving step is further performed by minimizing thermal gradients between adjacent volume elements, and / or by minimizing pressure drop between the inlet (100) and the outlet (200), and / or by minimizing average temperature across the vessel.

9. The computer-implemented method of any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the elements comprise one of the group: volume elements, finite elements, boundary elements, or finite differences.

10. The computer-implemented method of any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the fluid flow equations include equations of motion, 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 one of claims 1 to 10.

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

13. A computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to carry out 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 of any one of claims 1 to 10.

15. Use of a heat sink (500-508) according to claim 11 for exchanging heat with an electronic component.

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