A Heat Transfer Simulation Comparison Between Heat Sinks of Circular, Long Rectangular, and Rectangular Cross-Sectional Area
Miguel A. Ramirez
The advances in electronic devices are challenging engineers to develop more efficient heat dissipation alternatives to avoid the problem of malfunctioning due to the heat generated. The purpose of this numerical study is to compare the heat transfer capacity in three commonly used heat sinks or fins with different geometry (cylindrical, rectangular, and long rectangular). In this case, the heat sinks are exposed to a natural convection condition using the COMSOL Multi-Physics commercial software. An analysis of the fin temperature distribution and how the convective coefficient affects temperature distribution was performed. A study of the effects of temperature changes at the base of the three fins on the heat dissipation was done to determine which fin configuration dissipates more heat. It was found that the large rectangular and rectangular configurations remove 25% more heat when compared to the cylindrical fin.
Keywords: Heat Sinks, Heat Transfer, Natural Convection, Heat Flux, Convective Coefficient