L- and U-shaped heat pipes thermal modules with twin fans for cooling of electronic system under variable heat source areas

Abstract

This study utilizes a versatile superposition method with thermal resistance network analysis to design and experiment on a thermal module with embedded six L-shaped or two U-shaped heat pipes and plate fins under different fan speeds and heat source areas. This type of heat pipes-heat sink module successively transfer heat capacity from a heat source to the heat pipes, the heat sink and their surroundings, and are suitable for cooling electronic systems via forced convection mechanism. The thermal resistances contain all major components from the thermal interface through the heat pipes and fins. Thermal performance testing shows that the lowest thermal resistances of the representative L- and U-shaped heat pipes-heat sink thermal modules are respectively 0.25 and 0.17 °C/W under twin fans of 3,000 RPM and 30 × 30 mm2 heat sources. The result of this work is a useful thermal management method to facilitate rapid analysis.