Heatsink

The Electronics Cooling Toolset supports the following Heatsink QuickParts:

Plate Fin	Pin Fin	Cross Cut	Compact

While Plate Fin, Pin Fin, and Cross Cut heat sinks resolve the geometry of a real heat sink using simple shape templates, a Compact heat sink enables you to model the behaviour of a heat sink without considering geometric details. The Compact heat sink uses a Porous Medium approach for the fin region to capture the effects on the overall fluid flow and heat transfer. With this approach, you do not have to define a fine mesh around the fins or pins of a heat sink.

If none of the built-in heat sinks are suitable, you can define a Custom heat sink whose geometry is based on Construction Geometries that you specify.

Heat Sink—Common Properties

The following properties are common to all types of heat sinks:

The following geometry and physics properties characterize the different types of heat sinks—if you specify geometry parameters that lead to an invalid body, the parameters that require correction are highlighted in red:

Plate Fin—Specific Properties

Geometry
	X, Y Specify the dimensions in x- and y-direction, in the heat sink's local coordinate system. See X_or, Y_or, Z_or in the Graphics window. Height - (H) Specifies the height from base to top of the fins. Base Thickness - (BT) Specifies the thickness of the heat sink's base. Fin Offset - (PO) Specifies the offset of the plate fins from the base's sides. Fin Thickness Specifies the thickness of each plate fin. Number of Fins Specifies the number of plate fins that are placed on the heat sink's base.
Physics	Fins Bonded to Base Controls if the fins of the heat sink are bonded to or extruded from the base. When Off, a Material property is available to specify the overall material of the extruded heat sink. When On, a Base Material, and a Fin Material property specify the material of the heat sink's base and fin respectively. A Contact Resistance property sets the contact resistance between the fins and the heat sink's base. You can choose the materials from the Solid Sim Materials that you define in the Setup panel.

Pin Fin—Specific Properties

Geometry
	X, Y Specifies the dimensions in x- and y-direction, in the heat sink's local coordinate system. See X_or, Y_or, Z_or in the Graphics window. Height - (H) Specifies the height from base to top of the fins. Base Thickness - (BT) Specifies the thickness of the heat sink's base. Min Pin Offset - (PO) Specifies the minimum offset of the pin fins from the base's sides. Pin Radius Specifies the radius of each pin fin. Pin Pin Spacing Controls the spacing between the pin fins. The following options are available: Pin-Pin Distance: Sets the spacing based on the distance between the pin fins within one line. This option activates the Pitch - (PP) property that specifies the distance from one pin fin to the next. Number of Pins: Sets the spacing based on the number of pin fins within one line. This option activates the Count X and Count Y properties that specify the number of pin fins in x- and y-direction, respectively, in the heat sink's local coordinate system. Rows Staggered Controls if the pin fins are arranged in-line or staggered.
Physics	Material Defines the material of the heat sink. You can choose the material from the Solid Sim Materials that you define in the Setup panel.

Cross Cut—Specific Properties

Geometry
	X, Y Specifies the dimensions in x- and y-direction, in the heat sink's local coordinate system. See X_or, Y_or, Z_or in the Graphics window. Height - (H) Specifies the height from base to top of the fins. Base Thickness - (BT) Specifies the thickness of the heat sink's base. Min Pin Offset - (PO) Specifies the minimum offset of the pin fins from the base's sides. Pin Length Specifies the length of each pin fin. Pin Width Specifies the width of each pin fin. Pin Pin Spacing Controls the spacing between the pin fins. The following options are available: Pin-Pin Distance: Sets the spacing based on the distance between the pin fins within one line. This option activates the Pitch - (PP) property that specifies the distance from one pin fin to the next. Number of Pins: Sets the spacing based on the number of pin fins within one line. This option activates the Count X and Count Y properties that specify the number of pin fins in x- and y-direction, respectively, in the heat sink's local coordinate system. Rows Staggered Controls if the pin fins are arranged in-line or staggered.
Physics	Material Defines the material of the heat sink. You can choose the material from the Solid Sim Materials that you define in the Setup panel.

Compact—Specific Properties

Geometry
	X, Y Specifies the dimensions in x- and y-direction, in the heat sink's local coordinate system. See X_or, Y_or, Z_or in the visualization display. Height - (H) Specifies the height from base to top of the porous block. Optional Base Controls if the heat sink has a base or not. When Present, a Base Thickness - (BT) property specifies the thickness of the base. For the physics, you specify a Base Material and a Contact Resistance property.
Physics	Base Material Specifies the material of the heat sink's base. You can choose from the Solid Sim Materials that you define in the Setup panel. Fin Properties Specifies the properties of a porous medium that is used to mimic the effect of actual fins on the overall flow and heat transfer. Each parameter requires an XXComponent, a YY Component, and a ZZ Component that represent the diagonal components of a Principal Tensor. The following parameters are available: Porous Inertial Resistance Specifies the inertial resistance caused by the modeled fins, see Porous Media Drag Model Region Settings. Porous Viscous Resistance Specifies the viscous resistance caused by the modeled fins, see Porous Media Drag Model Region Settings. Solid Thermal Conductivity Specifies the thermal conductivity of the modeled fins' material, see Solid Thermal Conductivity. Porosity Specifies the ratio of open volume to total volume within the heat sink. Contact Resistance Specifies the contact resistance between the fins and the heat sink's base.

Custom—Specific Properties