Electrodynamic Fan Blade for Cooling Small Devices

In the context of the unabating trend towards miniaturization and constantly higher energy densities, individually adaptable cooling systems are becoming increasingly important. For efficient and reliable cooling, the reduction in the installation space required for the cooling unit plays a significant role. In this paper, an electrodynamic fan is presented which, similar to the more commonly used piezoelectric fan, increases the convection properties of nearby target surfaces with a vibrating flexible cantilever beam. In order to understand the correlations and to optimize the fan design, magnetostatic simulations using finite element analysis (FEA) were carried out. In an experimental study, the performance of the fan with regard to air velocity and energy consumption is investigated. The fan exhibits a very low level of power consumption during operation, with low voltages as well as low currents. Therefore, in comparison with other technologies, the electrodynamic fan is not only safer, but it also uses less energy. An additional study was carried out to analyze the cooling capacity of the fan using a TO220 housing as heat source. At a power consumption of 30 mW, a reduction in temperature of more than 60 % is achieved. Compared with other fans with a vibrating, flexible cantilever beam, the electrodynamic fan exhibits the lowest level of power consumption by far. The electrodynamic fan therefore has great potential for meeting the exacting requirements of miniaturization, due to its simple design, its individually adaptable installation space, and its frictionless and noiseless operation.