Entrainment Heat Sink With Dimple Array For Compact Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional convective cooling devices, such as blowers and fans, are bulky and heavy, while conductive heat sinks have limited performance capacity, making them unsuitable for densely packed electronic systems where space and weight are concerns.
Innovation Solution
The development of entrainment heat sink devices with a metal or composite material structure featuring an array of openings and dimples, where compressed air is introduced through trenches to enhance heat dissipation, allowing for smaller, lighter, and more effective heat transfer.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If blowers and fans are used for convective cooling, then heat dissipation is improved, but device size and bulkiness increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the active moving components (blowers and fans) from the cooling system and replaces them with a passive heat sink structure that relies on natural convection and conduction through its fin array, eliminating the need for mechanical motion while maintaining cooling effectiveness
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces the mechanical convective cooling system with a thermal conduction-based heat sink that transfers heat from the heat source through thermally conductive fins to the surrounding air, substituting mechanical motion with passive thermal physics
2Volume of moving object
If conductive heat sinks are used for cooling, then device size is reduced, but weight increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention employs thin fin structures that provide large surface area for heat dissipation while minimizing material usage and weight, allowing the heat sink to maintain effective cooling capacity without excessive mass
Solution Approach 2:
The heat sink features a distributed array of fins with varying geometries optimized for local heat transfer efficiency, concentrating thermal management resources where heat generation occurs while minimizing material in low-heat regions
3Volume of moving object
If conductive heat sinks are used for cooling, then device size is reduced, but heat dissipation performance is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The invention transitions from planar heat sink surfaces to a three-dimensional array of fins that extend in multiple directions, dramatically increasing the surface area available for convection and conduction without significantly increasing the horizontal footprint of the device
Solution Approach 2:
The heat sink is segmented into multiple discrete fins rather than a solid block, creating numerous independent heat transfer pathways that increase overall surface area and improve convective heat dissipation efficiency within a compact volume
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Entrainment heat sink devices are more compact and lightweight, offering improved heat dissipation performance compared to traditional convective and conductive cooling methods, enabling them to fit in smaller spaces and handle higher heat loads effectively.
Implementation Method 1
The conductive heat sinks may dissipate the unwanted heat created by the heat source(s) (e.g., cool the system) by transferring the unwanted heat from the heat source(s) to a fluid medium (e.g., air)
Implementation Method 2
The blowers and/or fans may dissipate the unwanted heat created by the heat source(s) (e.g., cool the system) by moving air through the system
Implementation Method 3
Entrainment heat sink devices with a metal or composite material structure featuring an array of openings and dimples, where compressed air is introduced through trenches to enhance heat dissipation
Data Source
Figure 1A
Figure 1B~1C
Figure 1D~1E
AI summary
Entrainment heat sink devices and methods of forming entrainment heat sink devices are described herein. One or more method embodiments include forming an opening through a first material, forming a dimple having a trapezoidal-cross section in the first material such that the opening is located on a side wall of the trapezoidal cross-section, and attaching the first material to a second material, wherein the first material or the second material has a trench formed therein and the first material is attached to the second material such that the trench is in fluidic communication with the dimple.