Thermal Characteristics of a Synthetic Jet Integrated Heat Sink Design for Air-Cooled Electronics

Thermal management is currently one of the key limitations in the design of electronic systems. Parallel to the advancements in the electronics industry and increase in power dissipation the development of effective, low-cost, compact heat removal solutions become extremely critical to ensure a failsafe and reliable operation. While liquid cooling is poised to provide the cooling capability for next generation electronics, its use in present-day products is less prevalent due to risks associated with condensation, leakage, and pumping power. Consequently, air-cooling strategies still continue to vie for near-term cooling needs in the electronic industry. In cohort with these trends, an advanced air-cooling solution in form of a synthetic jet assisted heat sink has been investigated in the present study. The study focuses on key design aspect of the heat sink fin design, synthetic jet design and characterization, and the interaction of unsteady air jets with the heat sink fins. Numerical simulations are employed to investigate 3D unsteady flow dynamics and experimental setup is designed and built for validation. The paper systematically presents the design trade-offs associated with the number of jets in the thermal solution and the jet driving conditions (voltage and frequency), in terms of the thermal performance and the cost. Overall, the synthetic jet integrated heat sink has demonstrably been shown to dissipate up to 4.7 times better than conventional natural convection heat sink with a COP value of greater than 40 within a volume of 25 in³.