Abstract
Finned heat sinks are used in computers to promote heat transfer from the Integrated Circuit (IC) chips to cooling air. This chapter provides the background information and the tutorial materials about heat sinks. First, the mechanism of heat generation by electronic circuits is explained. This is followed by a short history of heat dissipation from the large-scale computers of the 1980s and the present. The formulas to calculate the performance of heat spreaders and finned heat sinks are presented with explanations about the physics of heat transfer and coolant flow. The manufacturing methods of finned heat sinks are summarised. Finally, it is pointed out that the space for finned heat sinks is shrinking due to the growing demand for compact packaging of computers. In the future, computers would emulate biological brains in their performance as well as cooling mechanisms. It is thought-evoking to consider the role of heat sinks in such ultimate computers.
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Nakayama, W. (2014). Heat Sinks in Computers. In: Ito, Y. (eds) Thought-Evoking Approaches in Engineering Problems. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-04120-9_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-04120-9_6
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Online ISBN: 978-3-319-04120-9
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