Finite element analysis of the effect of fin geometry on thermal performance of heat sinks in microelectronics

Heat sinks are commonly used for the dissipation of heat in microelectronics packages. The choice of optimal heat sinks configuration largely depends on the market demand and thermal performance. Hence, having the right heat sinks configuration is vital to the overall thermal durability of the microelectronics package. This paper investigates the thermal resistance and efficiency of heat sink fins geometry in microelectronics application. This study investigates the shapes of six (square, rectangular, triangular, hexagonal, circular, and elliptical) different heat sink fins on thermal performance. ANSYS finite element design software was used to create the 3D models and meshed between 5-20% of the initial mesh size. Transient thermal conduction analysis was used in analysing the heat sinks. The results obtained demonstrated that the more number of elements in the mesh (or the finer the mesh) the better the convergence of the numerical solution. The results also showed that the rectangular shaped heat sink fins exhibited better thermal capabilities than the other shaped fins, by having a maximum temperature of about 42.5oC, thermal resistance of about 0.244 K/W, and thermal efficiency of about 50%. Keywords: heat sink; fin geometry; thermal resistance