Housing Array Heat Sink for Electronics Package Thermal Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electronics packages face challenges in efficiently dissipating heat due to cumbersome and costly processes involved in coupling metallic heat sinks with mismatched coefficients of thermal expansion, which can lead to stress and reduced manufacturing efficiency.
Innovation Solution
An electronics package design featuring a housing with a first metallic material and an array of openings for thermally conductive bodies made of a second metallic material with a substantially different coefficient of thermal expansion, allowing for efficient heat dissipation without the need for exotic alloys, and a method of forming these openings and filling them with thermally conductive materials to create a heat sink.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If a metallic heat sink is mounted into the floor of the electronics package, then heat dissipation is improved, but the manufacturing process becomes cumbersome and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The heat sink is pre-formed as an integrated part of the housing structure during the housing fabrication process, eliminating the need for separate mounting operations. The housing is formed with recesses that directly accommodate the heat sink portions, so the heat dissipation structure is already in place before electronic circuitry is installed.
Solution Approach 2:
The housing and heat sink are merged into a single integrated component. The housing is formed from a material that provides both structural enclosure and heat dissipation functions, combining what were previously separate elements (housing + mounted heat sink) into one unified structure that is manufactured as a single piece.
2Reliability
If special alloys are used to match the CTEs of the housing and heat sink, then stress during temperature extremes is reduced, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The approach changes from matching CTE parameters to accepting CTE mismatch. Instead of selecting materials with matched thermal expansion coefficients, the invention uses conventional materials with different CTEs and manages the resulting stress through design features such as compliant mounting structures and stress-relief geometries in the recesses.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces expensive special alloys with conventional, readily available materials. By using standard materials that are cheaper and more readily available, the manufacturing cost is reduced while maintaining acceptable performance through proper structural design that accommodates material differences.
3Temperature
If the heat sink is formed and fitted into an opening within the housing, then heat dissipation is achieved, but the process becomes costly and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The heat sink structure is preliminarily formed as an integral part of the housing during housing fabrication. The recesses for the heat sink are created during the same manufacturing process that forms the housing itself, so no separate fitting or assembly step is required later in the manufacturing process.
Solution Approach 2:
The housing fabrication process and heat sink formation process are merged into a single operation. Instead of separately forming the heat sink and then fitting it into the housing, both functions are accomplished in one manufacturing step, eliminating the fitting operation entirely.
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
This solution enables efficient heat dissipation, reduces production costs, and maintains mechanical strength and hermeticity, while avoiding the complexities of matching thermal expansion coefficients, thus enhancing the service life and manufacturing efficiency of electronics packages.
Implementation Method 1
a thermally conductive body within each of the openings in the array thereof to thereby define a heat sink for the electronic circuitry
Implementation Method 2
a first metallic material having a first coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE)... a second metallic material having a second CTE substantially different from the first CTE
Data Source
AI summary
An electronics package may include a housing and electronic circuitry carried thereby. The housing may include a first metallic material having a first coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and having an array of openings therein. The electronics package may also include a thermally conductive body within each of the openings in the array thereof to thereby define a heat sink for the electronic circuitry. Each of the thermally conductive bodies may include a second metallic material having a second CTE substantially different from the first CTE.