The development of an integrated fan and heat sink solution for thermal management in low profile applications

The increasing heat flux densities from portable electronics are leading to new methodologies being implemented to provide thermal management within such devices. Many technologies are under development to transport heat within electronic equipment to allow it to be transported into the surroundings via conduction, natural convection and radiation. Few have considered the approach of implementing a forced convection cooling solution in such devices. This work addresses the potential of a low profile integrated fan and heat sink solution to electronics thermal management issues of the future, particularly focusing upon possible solutions in low profile portable electronics. We investigate two heat sink designs with mini channel features, applicable to low profile applications. The thermal performance of the heat sinks is seen to differ by approximately 40% and highlights the importance of efficient heat sink design at this scale.