Optimization of shape size and location of an active heat sink within a laptop

Within a laptop, the location and height of an active heat sink greatly influence the amount of air it is capable of delivering as well as the amount of heat it dissipates. Increasing the span of the radial blades will increase the fan size but also will result in system blockage. The system inlet as well as the other components size and location will also influence the heat sink performances. Including the explicit fan details in the system model (blades, casing, hub, struts etc.) alleviates the need for a fan curve. In addition, the air flow non uniformity at the fan inlet and outlet as well as around the fins will be obtained. Flow non-uniformity around the fins result in non-uniform temperature distribution and higher maximum temperature of the heat source. Allowing the fin spacing, which has traditionally been uniform, to be locally varying normal to the flow direction may yield to the maximum uniform cooling of fins. This will result in less temperature stratification of the fins and their base and lower the maximum temperature. Through the combination of detailed computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and optimization algorithms, the optimum heat sink size, location, and the locally varying fin spacing are obtained under a set of geometrical and operating constraints for a specific system.