Finless Cooling Structure Using Vortex Flow to Cut Pressure Loss
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cooling devices for mobile electronics face challenges in efficiently transferring heat without inducing significant pressure losses and are costly to manufacture, especially at small scales, due to the use of intricate physical structures like fins and impingement cooling techniques.
Innovation Solution
A finless cooling device that utilizes a pump to direct fluid radially through a heat sink with opposing plates, creating vortices that enhance heat transfer without the need for physical structures, thereby acting as a secondary pumping mechanism and improving thermal boundary layer interactions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If fins are used to increase heat transfer surface area, then heat transfer efficiency is improved, but pressure losses increase due to shear losses
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the fins from the heat sink structure entirely, extracting the problematic element that caused shear losses and pressure drops. Instead of having fins extending into the flow path, the invention uses a flat plate heat sink where the heat transfer occurs through conduction to the plate surface and then convection from the surface, eliminating the shear loss mechanism while maintaining heat transfer capability through optimized plate geometry and flow distribution.
2Temperature
If intricate physical structures like fins and impingement cooling techniques are used, then heat transfer is enhanced, but manufacturing complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes the complex intricate physical structures (fins, impingement nozzles, staggered arrangements) from the heat sink design. The invention replaces these manufacturing-intensive features with a simple flat plate geometry that can be produced using conventional fabrication methods, significantly reducing manufacturing complexity and cost while maintaining effective heat transfer through fundamental convection and conduction mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of adding complex structures to enhance heat transfer, the invention inverts the approach by removing structures entirely and relying on optimized fluid flow patterns over a simple surface. The heat transfer enhancement is achieved through flow management and thermal boundary layer control rather than through geometric complexity, simplifying manufacturing while maintaining performance.
3Temperature
If fins are added to increase heat transfer surface area, then heat transfer potential is improved, but device volume and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates the fins that would increase device volume. The flat plate heat sink achieves heat transfer enhancement without the volumetric penalty of three-dimensional fin structures, maintaining a compact form factor suitable for mobile electronics while providing adequate heat dissipation surface area through the plate itself.
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
The solution achieves heat transfer rates comparable to finned devices while being simpler and cheaper to manufacture, with enhanced versatility and reduced pressure drop, making it suitable for compact applications like mobile phones.
Implementation Method 1
creating vortices that enhance heat transfer without the need for physical structures
Implementation Method 2
Cooling devices employing forced convection have been employed to reduce operating temperature
Implementation Method 3
the heat sink comprises a heat transfer surface
Implementation Method 4
heat transfer rates comparable to finned devices
Data Source
AI summary
A cooling device (1) comprises a top plate (2), a bottom plate (3), an axial flow inlet (4) in the top plate (2), a rotor support (5) on the top plate (2), and a pump rotor fan (6). The outer dimensions are 40 mm in diameter and 4 mm in height. The internal separation of the plates 2 and 3 is 4 mm. The cooling device (1) has a low profile in scale. Depending on the configuration and on operating parameters steady or unsteady fluid flow vortices can be created in the heat sink. The resulting flow field enhances heat transfer rates locally through impingement cooling and thermal transport by the vortices, whether generated to be steady or unsteady in nature. Also, the vortices drive a secondary flow within the heat sink, effectively creating a pumping mechanism, which further enhances heat transfer. The heat sink is simple, economical to construct and integrate within portable electronics such as mobile phones, and provides the possibility of utilizing existing components and architectures within electronic devices as the heat sink body. For example one or more heat sink surfaces may be surfaces of existing components such as a circuit board or a housing.