Heat Sink Coolant Passageway Layout for Temperature Bias Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing heat sinks with oblong slits in the coolant flow direction experience temperature bias, leading to reduced heat-exchanging efficiency and cooling performance due to a small temperature difference between the core and coolant.
Innovation Solution
A heat sink design with a coolant passageway that includes coolant-contact parts, coolant-transit parts, and connecting parts with varying cross-sectional areas, which agitates the coolant by increasing and decreasing in size along the flow path, reducing temperature bias and enhancing heat transfer.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If oblong slits extended along the coolant flow direction are used in the heat sink core, then the coolant can flow smoothly through the heat sink, but temperature bias occurs in the coolant leading to reduced heat-exchanging efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The coolant passageway is segmented into multiple functional sections: coolant lead-in part, coolant-contact parts, coolant-transit part, and connecting parts. This segmentation allows different sections to perform specialized functions - the connecting parts with smaller cross-sectional areas create agitation zones that mix the coolant, while the coolant-contact parts provide thermal exchange surfaces, thereby resolving the contradiction between smooth flow and temperature uniformity.
Solution Approach 2:
Different sections of the coolant passageway are given different local qualities - the connecting parts have smaller cross-sectional areas to create turbulence and agitation, while the coolant-contact parts have larger areas for thermal exchange. This local differentiation allows the system to achieve both smooth overall flow and localized mixing to prevent temperature bias.
2Temperature
If the temperature difference between the core and coolant becomes small due to temperature bias, then the coolant temperature becomes more uniform, but heat-exchanging efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The connecting parts with smaller cross-sectional areas create periodic agitation zones along the coolant flow path. As coolant passes through these alternating narrow and wide sections, it experiences periodic turbulence and mixing that prevents temperature stratification while maintaining overall flow continuity, thus preserving both temperature uniformity and heat exchange efficiency.
3Loss of energy
If connecting parts with smaller passageway cross-sectional areas are introduced between coolant-transit part and coolant-contact parts, then coolant agitation is improved and temperature bias is reduced, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The connecting parts are integrated directly into the coolant passageway structure, merging the agitation function with the flow path rather than adding separate agitation devices. This integration achieves coolant mixing through the passageway geometry itself, reducing device complexity while still improving temperature uniformity.
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 design improves cooling performance by increasing the temperature difference between the heat sink and coolant, leading to more efficient heat exchange and reduced pressure loss.
Implementation Method 1
the coolant passageway can agitate with good efficiency the coolant that has flowed into the coolant-contact part owing to the increase/decrease of the size of the passageway
Implementation Method 2
When the coolant is flowed through the heat sink, owing to heat exchange with the heat sink, the temperature of the coolant that flows through a portion of the heat sink that is close to the inner surface becomes higher
Data Source
AI summary
A coolant passageway (2) of a heat sink (1) has a coolant lead-in part (21), a coolant lead-out part (22), coolant-contact parts (23), coolant-transit parts (25), and connecting parts (24). The coolant-contact parts (23) are disposed spaced apart from one another along a coolant path leading from the coolant lead-in part (21) to the coolant lead-out part (22) and are configured such that they bring the coolant into contact with a cooling-wall part. The coolant-transit parts (25) are disposed between adjacent coolant-contact parts (23) and are configured such that the coolant can transit from upstream-side coolant-contact parts (23) to downstream-side coolant-contact parts (23) in the coolant paths. The connecting parts (24) are interposed between the coolant-transit parts (25) and the coolant-contact parts (23) and have a passageway cross-sectional area that is smaller than those of the coolant-contact parts (23) and the coolant-transit parts (25).