Coarse and detailed CFD modelling of a finned heat sink

CFD modelling of electronic components becomes increasingly more important as CFD spreads into the design process. This paper compares the results of a detailed CFD model of a heat sink with experimental data. Then a technique for representing the heat sink in a coarse manner in a CFD model is presented and compared with the detailed CFD model. Agreement is quite good, indicating that this technique can be used when representing heat sinks in larger card or system models.<>