Homogeneous Liquid Cooling of LED Arrays
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Solution Overview
Problem
High power LED arrays face challenges in achieving uniform and homogeneous cooling due to temperature gradients across the ceramic body, leading to varying operating temperatures of LEDs, which can affect performance and lifespan.
Innovation Solution
A liquid-cooled heat sink design featuring a top plate with circuitous liquid channels, a bottom plate with inlet and outlet ports, and an intermediate plate for fluid communication, ensuring uniform temperature distribution and efficient heat removal through spiral cooling channels and a central outlet system.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If a cooling liquid channel winds through the ceramic body or branches out to different parts, then the cooling liquid medium can absorb heat from the ceramic body, but a temperature gradient is developed across the ceramic body leading to non-uniform LED operating temperatures
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system is divided into three separate plates (top plate with cooling channels, intermediate plate with guide channels, bottom plate with ports), allowing each component to be optimized independently and assembled together to achieve uniform cooling without complex internal winding channels
Solution Approach 2:
The intermediate plate provides localized fluid communication between the cooling channels in the top plate and the ports in the bottom plate, creating optimal local flow distribution to eliminate temperature gradients while maintaining simple channel structures
2Temperature
If a single cooling liquid channel is used to cool the entire LED array, then the device structure is simplified, but significant temperature differences develop between LEDs at different positions
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system transitions from a single-channel approach to a multi-plate three-dimensional structure with distributed cooling channels in the top plate and guide channels in the intermediate plate, enabling uniform temperature distribution across the entire LED array through spatially distributed cooling
3Loss of energy
If cooling channels are embedded directly in the ceramic body, then thermal conductivity is improved, but the pressure loss increases and scalability to larger geometries is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system is segmented into modular plates that can be assembled in different configurations, allowing scalability to larger LED array geometries while maintaining efficient cooling and low pressure loss through the distributed channel architecture
Solution Approach 2:
The multi-plate design serves multiple functions simultaneously: the top plate provides cooling channels, the intermediate plate provides fluid communication and structural support, and the bottom plate provides inlet/outlet ports, making the system adaptable to various LED array sizes and configurations
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 achieves a temperature variation of less than 15% across the LED array, providing homogeneous cooling, reduced pressure loss, and scalability for larger geometries, while eliminating the need for separate thermal interfaces and improving thermal conductivity.
Implementation Method 1
the cooling liquid medium absorbs heat from the ceramic body 120 as it enters the cooling liquid channel 110 from inlet 130 and exits through outlet 140
Data Source
AI summary
A liquid-cooled heat sink includes a top plate having an array of circuitous liquid channels, each channel having a separate channel inlet and a common central outlet channel. The heat sink further includes a bottom plate having an inlet port and an outlet port. The heat sink further includes an intermediate plate having inlet guide channels providing fluid communication between the inlet port of the bottom plate and channel inlets of the top plate, said intermediate plate further including an outlet guide channel providing fluid communication between the common central outlet channel of the top plate and the outlet port of the bottom plate.