Tag Archives: heat sink

Next Webinar: Thursday, July 18 @ 2pm ET

Posted on July 11, 2013 by | Leave a comment

ATS Webinar

Don’t miss the next ATS webinar, “Using Thermal Interface Materials to Improve Heat Sink Thermal Performance”.

This is a free, pre-recorded webinar that will be held at 2pm ET on Thursday July 18th. Attendees will gain a much better understanding on what thermal interface materials are, how they function and how to best use them. The pros and cons of various thermal interface materials is also discussed. This class is from the perspective of the engineer who uses the material not one of the thermal interface material suppliers themselves.

There is no fee to attend, but virtual seating is limited so Register Now

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The New Qpedia Thermal eMagazine is Out

Posted on June 26, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Qpedia Thermal eMagazine, Volume 7, Issue 4, has just been released and can be downloaded at: http://www.qats.com/Qpedia-Thermal-eMagazine/Back-Issues.

Featured articles in this issue include:

Dropwise Condensation in Vapor Chambers
Considerable attention has been devoted in the past to the evaporation process taking place in a vapor chamber. However, increased heat fluxes at the condensation end have prompted efforts to improve the condensation performance of the vapor chambers. This article presents a review of a novel method for improving the thermal performance of a vapor chamber condensing section by using special surfaces promoting dropwise condensation.

 

Heat Sink Manufacturing Using Metal Injection Molding

Using Metal Injection Molding It is only in the last few years that metal injection molding (MIM) has gained a foothold in the thermal community and its salient advantages have become more evident. The MIM process allows intricate features to be added into the heat sink design to boost thermal performance and its production process is very scalable compared with machining. Injection molding enables complex parts to be formed as easily as simple geometries, thereby allowing increased design freedom.  This article explore the merits of copper material in the MIM process.

 

Industry Developments: Thermoelectric Modules and Coolers

Thermoelectric modules (TEMs) are rugged, reliable and quiet devices that serve as heat pumps. The real heat-moving components inside TEMs are thermoelectric coolers or TECs. These are solid-state heat pumps and are designed for applications where temperature stabilization, temperature cycling, or cooling below ambient, are required. Today, TEMs are used in electro-optics applications, such as the cooling and stabilizing of laser diodes, IR detectors, cameras (charge coupled device), microprocessors, blood analyzers and optical switches. This article explores some of the latest developments in these devices.

 

Technology Review: Reducing Thermal Spreading Resistance in Heat Sinks

In this issue our spotlight is on reducing spreading resistance in heat sinks. There is much discussion about how this phenomenon can be achieved, and these patents show some of the salient features that are the focus of different inventors.

 

Cooling News featuring the latest product releases and buzz from around the electronics cooling industry.

 

Download the issue now.

 

Not a Qpedia subscriber? Subscribe Now for free at: http://www.qats.com/Qpedia-Thermal-eMagazine/Subscribe-to-Qpedia and see why over 18,000 engineers read Qpedia.

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Increased Performance from High Aspect Ratio Heat Sinks

Posted on April 11, 2013 by | 4 comments

High Aspect Ratio Heat Sinks from ATSA heat sink’s aspect ratio is basically the comparison of its fin height to the distance between its fins. In typical heat sinks the aspect ratio is between 3:1 and 5:1. A high aspect ratio heat sink has taller fins with a smaller distance between them for a ratio that can be 8:1 to 16:1 or greater.

Thus, a high aspect ratio heat sink provides greater density of fins in a given footprint than a more common sink, and/or stands taller than its conventional counterpart. The great benefit from a high aspect ratio heat sink is the increased amount of heat dissipating surfaces it provides due to its additional fins. Further, these heat sinks do not occupy any more length or width. The result is a more efficient heat sink with higher performance per gram in the same footprint.

Many common heat sinks are unable to serve the needs of high volume applications, due to the fact that their cooling capacity – measured in part by the aspect ratio – is simply not great enough. By nearly doubling a heat sink’s aspect ratio the cooling performance is optimized and heat issues resolved without the need for more complex solutions.

Because high aspect ratio heat sinks are manufactured in similar fashion as conventional heat sinks, their cost is not significantly higher. They can be extruded or bonded. Fins can be straight or folded. For omnidirectional purposes a high density of pins can be used as heat spreaders in place of fins.

High aspect ratio heat sinks are often ideal thermal solutions for workstation CPUs, high performance power supplies and converters, and high-end amplifiers.

Of critical importance when using high aspect ratio heat sinks is providing sufficient airflow to carry away the radiating heat. Passive cooling, e.g. conduction and radiation may be inadequate. Convective heat transfer removes essentially all of the energy from a heat sink under forced air cooling. Particularly with dense fin fields, an improperly directed fan may create stagnation points and high pressure loss. Thermal modeling is recommended when determining the needed active cooling resources.

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Posted in Active, heat sink, heat sink design, Heat Sinks

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New Consulting Project Subscription Plan

Posted on March 21, 2013 by | Leave a comment

ATS has released a Consulting Project Subscription Plan (CPSP) for engineering services. From our corporate headquarters in Norwood, Massachusetts,we offers comprehensive thermal management analysis and design services for the telecommunications, medical, military, defense, aerospace, automotive, and embedded computing industries. The new plan allows ATS engineers to become an extension of your team for a pre-determined amount of hours, providing expert thermal and mechanical engineering consultation, design, simulation, testing and validation.

ATS Design Services

Services include Design, Simulation, Testing, Analysis & Prototyping

The CPSP includes the use of ATS thermal lab facilities and covers all projects approved by an authorized representative of subscribed customers. ATS thermal management analysis and design services encompass both experimental and computational simulations using proprietary tools and computational fluid dynamics software packages such as FLOTHERM and CFdesign.

Thermal Testing & Analysis

Thermal Testing & Analysis

The new subscription plan gives customers priority access to ATS engineering and manufacturing resources for all chip, board, enclosure, and system related projects. ATS studies the full packaging domain, including components, circuit boards (PCBs), shelves, chassis, and system packaging.

Consulting capabilities include:

– heat sink, board and fan characterization

– heat sink design and optimization

– PCB & fan tray design and optimization

– liquid cooling design

– prototyping of heat sinks and complete cooling systems

– wind tunnel testing of components, PCBs, chassis and enclosures

ATS offers rapid prototyping of machined parts and cooling systems from its US facilities. Sheet metal fabrication and cut heat sink prototypes are quickly provided from international partners.

Liquid Crystal Thermography

Liquid Crystal Thermography

ATS believes that customers who wish to remain competitive should consider a design-to-suit opportunity solution first. Contrary to common perception, this proves to be less expensive to the customer in the long run, because of the ensuing gain in product efficiency and compatibility. Working side-by-side with customers worldwide, ATS engineers provide tailored solutions to thermal and mechanical packaging challenges on real projects with real schedules.

To learn more about the consulting project subscription plan, call 781-769-2800, email ats-hq@qats.com, or visit www.qats.com.

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New maxiFLOW DC-DC Brick Heat Sinks Ideal for Military-COTS Applications

Posted on March 8, 2013 by | 1 comment

ATS has recently launched a new product line of maxiFLOW heat sinks, specially designed to cool DC-DC converters. The new line of heat sinks can be used with Vicor’s DC-DC converter Bricks, including their military-COTS applications.

Vicor’s Maxi, Mini, and Micro series DC-DC converters are relied upon by over eight thousand OEMs for their proven performance, broad coverage of input and output voltages, ease of mechanical mounting and thermal management flexibility. These converter modules use advanced power processing, control, and packaging technologies to provide the performance, flexibility, and ruggedness expected in a Military COTS product. High frequency ZCS/ZVS switching, advanced power semiconductor packaging, and thermal management provide high-power density with low noise and high efficiency.

maxiFLOW Heat Sink for Half Brick DC-DC Converters

 

ATS’ patented maxiFLOW technology cools millions of BGAs and other PCB components. The same technology is now available for cooling eighth, quarter, half and full brick modules, such as the Micro, Mini, and Maxi series from Vicor. Unlike other converter heat sinks, the patented maxiFLOW heat sink design reduces air pressure drop and provides greater surface area, increasing thermal performance by 30-200%.

Vicor’s Micro, Mini, and Maxi DC-DC Converters

Vicor’s offering of full, half, and quarter-brick modules feature a patented low noise design with the highest reliability and power density available. Fully encapsulated, Maxi, Mini and Micro series DC-DC converters utilize a proprietary spin fill process that assures complete, void free encapsulation making them suitable for the harshest environments. Two grades (H & M) are available with temperatures to -55°C operating and -65°C storage. H & M-Grade modules are qualified to the stringent environmental tests of MIL-STD-810 and MIL-STD-202 and undergo 100% Environment Stress Screening.

By combining technology from industry leaders Vicor and ATS, it can be ensured that DC-DC converters will have superior performance in the harshest environments, which is vital for military and aerospace applications.

To learn more about maxiFLOW Brick DC-DC converter heat sinks, please visit our Power Brick Heat Sink Page or email ats-hq@qats.com, or call us 781-769-2800.

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