Thermal Performance of an Air-Cooled Micro-Grooved Heat Sink

The development and testing of a new low-profile, air-cooled heat sink for use in cooling electronic modules are presented. This heat sink consists of a micro-groove surface with a special manifold that generated high heat transfer coefficients but low pressure drops. The optimization of the various geometries that make up a micro-grooved heat sink is discussed, as well as the various CFD simulations that were employed to estimate and optimize the thermal performance of a micro-grooved heat sink. The thermal performance of a prototype micro-grooved heat sink is compared with that of a finned heat sink. Other characteristics of the micro-grooved heat sinks will also be contrasted with the finned heat sink.