0-7803-XXXX-X/11/$25.

00 l201l1 IEEE

Heat Sink Design Optimization Using the Thermal

Byron Blackmore,
Mentor Graphics Mechanical Analysis Division
81 Bridge Road, Hampton Court, Surrey UK

Abstract
Calculation and display of a ther mal ShortCut
field as an integrated part of a CFD simulation enables a
practitioner to visualize and understand the physical
mechanisms by which heat is removed from an electronics
system and where opportunities exists to introduce new heat
transfer paths. By applying the characteristics of this thermal
ShortCut scalar to heat sink design aspects,
near optimal solutions with a minimal number of simulations.
This work will demonstrate a correlation between the
ShortCut scalar and the local Nusselt number, and use this
correlation to determine the optimal areas where fin material
can be removed with minimal impact on the thermal
performance of the heat sink. The results will be compared
that obtained by more traditional Design of Experiments
techniques.
Keywords
Thermal, Shortcut, Nusselt
Nomenclature
BN BottleNeck Number
D
h
hydraulic diameter = 2 x fin gap
DoE Design of (Numerical) Experiment
Re Reynolds Number
Nu Nusselt Number
RSM Response Surface Modeling
SC ShortCut Number
SO Sequential Optimization
1. Introduction
Electronics thermal management involves the design of an
electronics system to facilitate the effective removal of heat
from the active surface of an integrated circuit (the heat
source) out to a colder ambient surrounding. As the heat
travels from the source it passes through various objects and
length scales; from the die through the package to the board,
into a chassis and out to an operating environ
How easily the heat passes from the source(s) to the
ambient will determine the temperature rise at the source and
all points in-between. The often complex 3D heat flow paths
carry proportions of the heat with varying degrees of ease.
Those paths that carry a lot of heat and which offer large
resistances to that heat flow are considered thermal
bottlenecks. Identifying and relieving these bottlenecks
through a redesign will allow the heat to pass to the ambient
more easily, thus reducing temperature rises along the heat
flo w path, all the way back to the heat source.
The addition of new heat flow paths that allow the heat to
bypass these bottlenecks and pass directly to colder areas and
on to the ambient more easily will also result in a decrease
28th IEEE SEMI
ink Design Optimization Using the Thermal ShortCut Concept
Byron Blackmore, John Parry & Robin Bornoff
Mentor Graphics Mechanical Analysis Division
81 Bridge Road, Hampton Court, Surrey UK
Byron_blackmore@mentor.com
ShortCut scalar
field as an integrated part of a CFD simulation enables a
understand the physical
mechanisms by which heat is removed from an electronics
nities exists to introduce new heat
. By applying the characteristics of this thermal
scalar to heat sink design aspects, one can identify
near optimal solutions with a minimal number of simulations.
relation between the
ShortCut scalar and the local Nusselt number, and use this
determine the optimal areas where fin material
can be removed with minimal impact on the thermal
will be compared to
hat obtained by more traditional Design of Experiments
Design of (Numerical) Experiment
Electronics thermal management involves the design of an
electronics system to facilitate the effective removal of heat
integrated circuit (the heat
source) out to a colder ambient surrounding. As the heat
travels from the source it passes through various objects and
length scales; from the die through the package to the board,
into a chassis and out to an operating environment.
How easily the heat passes from the source(s) to the
ambient will determine the temperature rise at the source and
between. The often complex 3D heat flow paths
carry proportions of the heat with varying degrees of ease.
hat carry a lot of heat and which offer large
resistances to that heat flow are considered thermal
Identifying and relieving these bottlenecks
through a redesign will allow the heat to pass to the ambient
ure rises along the heat
flow path, all the way back to the heat source.
The addition of new heat flow paths that allow the heat to
to colder areas and
on to the ambient more easily will also result in a decrease in
temperature rise. Identification and implementation
thermal shortcut opportunities also
changes to be made with maximum effect.
2. BottleNeck and ShortCut Numbers
Characteristics
2.1. BottleNeck Number (BN)
The dimensionalized BN number is the dot product of the
heat flux and temperature gradient vectors
Figure 1: Misaligned Heat Flux and Temperature Gradient
vectors
In vector notation: BN = Heat Flux Temperature
Gradient. In scalar notation: BN =
Gradient x cos() |.
If the angle between the two vectors is zero, i.e. the heat
flux is aligned with the temperature gradient as it would be for
conductive heat flow in a homogenous therm
material, then BN is the product of the magnitudes of the
vectors, since cos(0) =1 .
Large values of this BN scalar, computed as a part of the
thermal simulation, pinpoint areas of high heat flow
experiencing a large local thermal resistance (characterized by
a large, aligned temperature gradient), and thus identify the
thermal bottlenecks in a design. Normalizing this scalar by the
maximum value in a model will provide an indication of the
relative levels of thermal bottleneck in a single simulation
model.
2.2. ShortCut Number (SC)
The dimensionalized SC number is also calculated from
the heat flux and temperature gradient vector fields. The SC
scalar value at any point is calculated as the magnitude of the
cross product of the two vector quantities. In vector notation:
SC = Heat Flux x Temperature Gradient. In scalar notation:
SC = | Heat Flux x Temperature Gradient x sin(
If the temperature gradient is orth
then SC is simply the product of the vector magnitudes, since
sin(90) =1.
IEEE SEMI-THERM Sympolsium
Concept
and implementation of such
l shortcut opportunities also allow targeted design
changes to be made with maximum effect.
BottleNeck and ShortCut Numbers and Their
number is the dot product of the
heat flux and temperature gradient vectors (Fig. 1).

Misaligned Heat Flux and Temperature Gradient
In vector notation: BN = Heat Flux Temperature
|Heat Flux x Temperature
If the angle between the two vectors is zero, i.e. the heat
flux is aligned with the temperature gradient as it would be for
conductive heat flow in a homogenous thermally isotropic
roduct of the magnitudes of the
Large values of this BN scalar, computed as a part of the
thermal simulation, pinpoint areas of high heat flow
experiencing a large local thermal resistance (characterized by
perature gradient), and thus identify the
thermal bottlenecks in a design. Normalizing this scalar by the
maximum value in a model will provide an indication of the
bottleneck in a single simulation
e dimensionalized SC number is also calculated from
e gradient vector fields. The SC
scalar value at any point is calculated as the magnitude of the
cross product of the two vector quantities. In vector notation:
x x Temperature Gradient. In scalar notation:
SC = | Heat Flux x Temperature Gradient x sin() |.
If the temperature gradient is orthogonal to the heat flux,
is simply the product of the vector magnitudes, since
978-1-4673-1111-3/12/$31.00 2012 I 195E EE
978-1-4673-1111-3/12/$31.00 2012 IEEE

Blackmore et al., Heat Sink Design Optimization Using the

28th IEEE SEMI-THERM Symposium
Large values of the SC field pinpoint areas where large
heat flux vectors are misaligned with large temperature
gradient vectors (i.e., the heat is not moving directly toward a
significantly cooler area), and thus identify locations where
the benefit in establishing a new heat transfer path to shortcut
the heat to colder areas of the design is highest. Normalizing
this scalar by the maximum value in a model will provide an
indication of the relative levels of shortcut opportunities in a
single simulation model.

3. Literature Review
Examples of the application of the BN and SC Numbers to
thermal management applications have been previously
published [1, 2, 3, 4]. In [1], BN and SC are introduced, and
distributions of both are shown for a single TO 263 device on
a board to illustrate where the optimal locations in the
package to implement thermal design changes are to be found.
In [2], BN and SC distributions are used to derive a sequence
of thermal design changes for a board in a forced convection
situation. BN distributions suggested the shape of the optimal
copper pad for two overheating packages, while SC
distributions suggested the use of a heat sink and the optimal
locations for an array of thermal vias. In [3], both BN and SC
parameters were used to identify design changes for an
electronics module in the context of Define, Identify, Design,
Optimize, and Verify version of Design for Six Sigma. Both
design changes were confirmed via simulation to reduce the
targeted component temperatures. In [4], the BN number
was used to optimize several aspects of heat sink design, in
particular the fin widths of a plate fin heat sink, and the
insertion of a copper slug in the heat sink base.

4. Correlation of ShortCut number to Nusselt Number
The ShortCut number is a useful tool in heat sink design
primarily because it shows a strong correlation with local
Nusselt number for convective surfaces. This characteristic of
the SC number is fundamental to the heat sink design
applications that will be discussed in later sections. This
section will demonstrate this qualitative correlation by
comparing Nu and SC distributions for the case of flow over a
fixed temperature plate, and the case where only a small
section of the plate is held at an elevated temperature. Both of
these selected cases are representative of typical flow and
temperature conditions found within a heat sink and/or a
printed circuit board.
A local Nusselt number provides a measure of the
effectiveness of heat transfer from a surface to the
surrounding fluid. It is notoriously difficult to fully automate
the extraction of a local ambient temperature used in the
Nusselt number definition for the general case. By showing a
correlation of Nusselt number with SC number, and the fact
that the SC number is itself much simpler to define and
calculate, use of the SC number to identify and appreciate
areas of effective convective heat transfer can be proposed.
Note that this appears to be in contradiction to the previous
statements that the SC number is indicative of where there is
an opportunity to insert new heat transfer paths where
currently there exists none. However the nature of the SC
number [1], involving a temperature gradient orthogonal to a
predominant heat flux path, when examined at solid/fluid
interfaces where the air flow is parallel to the surface, is also
indicative of the local effectiveness of the heat transfer.
As illustrated in Figure 2, as the air heats up as it flows
through the channel the perpendicular temperature gradient
will reduce thus the SC number should also reduce. So,
although the SC number is NOT a direct analogy to the local
Nusselt number, it should be high where there are symptoms
that are indicative of high Nusselt number conditions.



Figure 2: Parallel Fixed Temperature Plate Heat Flux and
Temperature Gradient Directions

ShortCut-Nu Correlation - Fixed Temperature Wall
Example
The geometry for this example is shown in Figure 3. A
solid wall at a fixed temperature of 0 C is defined with a
length of 0.2 m. A constant velocity of air is introduced over
the wall at a speed of 1 m/s and at a temperature of -100 C
[chosen for mathematical convenience]. Symmetry boundary
conditions are applied on the upper plane of the model at a
height of 5 mm above the fixed temperature wall. This
equates to a parallel wall channel type flow with a channel
gap of 10 mm. A Reynolds number of 1261 (laminar flow) is
realized. Symmetry boundary conditions are applied on the
two sides of the model representing an infinitely wide
channel.

Figure 3: Parallel Fixed Temperature Plate Model Geometry

For a fixed wall temperature, the effectiveness of heat
transfer will be seen as the ratio of the amount of heat that is
transferred to the air and how close that air temperature is to
the wall temperature. More heat moved for less temperature
difference is the result of effective heat transfer. This
effectiveness will be high in the entrance to the channel as the

Blackmore et al., Heat Sink Design Optimization Using the
fluid is still relatively cold compared to the wall and the local
velocity gradient is high thus the wall friction will be high and
thus, due to the Reynolds analogy, heat transfer will be more
effective.
A Nusselt number is defined as:

Where:
L = characteristic length (m)
k = thermal conductivity of fluid (W/mK)
q = heat flux (W/m
2
)
T
wall
= local wall temperature
T
ambient
= local ambient temperature**
**taken as flow weighted average vertically across the
channel at a plane adjacent to where the local heat flux is
recorded
Of course, the effectiveness of heat transfer is inherent in
its definition, i.e. the ratio of q and dT.

Results
A plot of the SC number is shown in Figure
channel heights in the flow direction only for clarity). Figure
5 shows the variation in normalized Nusselt number and SC
number plotted against the flow direction.

Figure 4: Parallel Fixed Temperature Plate: SC Number
Distribution

Figure 5: SC and Normalized Nu Number vs. Development
Length

The local Nusselt number variation on the surface of the
fixed temperature wall is calculated for each grid cell face at
that solid-fluid interface in the model and plotted against the
flow direction. Similarly the SC number is plotted for the row
of air cells immediately adjacent to the wall surface, again in
the flow direction. As we are looking for a qualitative
correlation between the two parameters, the Nusselt number is
the

28th IEEE
fluid is still relatively cold compared to the wall and the local
ocity gradient is high thus the wall friction will be high and
analogy, heat transfer will be more

= thermal conductivity of fluid (W/mK)
**taken as flow weighted average vertically across the
channel at a plane adjacent to where the local heat flux is
Of course, the effectiveness of heat transfer is inherent in
number is shown in Figure 4 (for a few
ion only for clarity). Figure
normalized Nusselt number and SC

Parallel Fixed Temperature Plate: SC Number

SC and Normalized Nu Number vs. Development
number variation on the surface of the
fixed temperature wall is calculated for each grid cell face at
fluid interface in the model and plotted against the
number is plotted for the row
adjacent to the wall surface, again in
the flow direction. As we are looking for a qualitative
correlation between the two parameters, the Nusselt number is
normalized along that profile. The S
normalized.
The main difference is seen in the local spike in SC
near the entrance to the channel. This is due to
of the maximum SC area from the wall surface as seen in
Figure 4 where the line of maximum SC
parallel to the surface whereas the Nusselt number
its definition is taken along the solid/fluid interface. Apart
from this entrance effect difference there is a strong enough
correlation between the two parameters, enough to consider
SC variation near walls as a parameter that will indicate wh
the local solid to fluid heat transfer is effective.
The next example is almost identical to
from only a small section of the wall is being held at a fixed
temperature. The wall is conductive allowing heat spreading
within it. This configuration is more indicative of heat transfer
from a locally heated PCB surface.

SC-Nu Correlation Local Fixed Temperature Wall
Example
The geometry for this example is shown in Figure 6
plot of the SC number distribution is shown in Figure 7
The normalized Nusselt number variatio
surface and the SC variation in the first row of grid cells in the
air adjacent to the wall are plotted in Figure 8
the fixed temperature region is shown by the two vertical
lines.

Figure 6: Parallel Fixed Temperature Region Model
Geometry

Figure 7: Parallel Fixed Temperature Region: SC Number
Distribution

th IEEE SEMI-THERM Symposium
normalized along that profile. The SC number is itself already
een in the local spike in SC very
near the entrance to the channel. This is due to the detachment
area from the wall surface as seen in
where the line of maximum SC number is not
parallel to the surface whereas the Nusselt number line is by
its definition is taken along the solid/fluid interface. Apart
from this entrance effect difference there is a strong enough
arameters, enough to consider
variation near walls as a parameter that will indicate where
the local solid to fluid heat transfer is effective.
The next example is almost identical to the first one, apart
from only a small section of the wall is being held at a fixed
The wall is conductive allowing heat spreading
configuration is more indicative of heat transfer

Local Fixed Temperature Wall
his example is shown in Figure 6 and a
is shown in Figure 7.
The normalized Nusselt number variation at the wall
variation in the first row of grid cells in the
he wall are plotted in Figure 8. The extent of
the fixed temperature region is shown by the two vertical

Parallel Fixed Temperature Region Model

Parallel Fixed Temperature Region: SC Number

Blackmore et al., Heat Sink Design Optimization Using the

28th IEEE SEMI-THERM Symposium

Figure 8: SC and Normalized Nu Number vs. Development
Length

Overall an excellent correlation is seen, more than enough
to give confidence in using the SC variation in a model to
determine the areas that are being most effective in
transferring heat from a solid surface to the air. The following
sections will apply this correlation to heat sink design, in
particular to identify the surfaces of the heat sink that are
ineffective as candidates for removal in the interest of
reducing heat sink mass.

5. Optimization vs. Insight for Heat Sink Design
The BN and SC Numbers can be used individually, or
together with any electronics thermal design. In this paper we
will focus on the application of the SC Number to heat sink
design, again referring the reader to [4] for the discussion of
the BN field in this area. Heat sink design is a generic
challenge that now forms part of the thermal design of many
electronics systems, from consumer electronics to military
avionics. The traditional approach to heat sink design
optimization is automated parametric design optimization,
using numerical Design-of-Experiment (DoE) techniques
coupled with Response Surface Modeling (RSM) or
Sequential Optimization (SO) in conjunction with CFD [5].
While these approaches have been shown to be very effective,
they can also consume prohibitive amounts of engineering
time and computing resource. The basic methodology is as
follows. A base model is defined in the analysis software
following standard modeling practices for the tool in use.
Then, the parameters to be varied as part of the DoE have to
be selected and their ranges defined. Next a sufficiently large
set of design points needs to be generated within the design
space, usually requiring 5-10 design points per design
parameter. Each of these designs then has to be solved to a
converged state. Once all the designs have been solved a
Response Surface can be created by fitting the data points for
a given objective (or cost) function, comprised of quantities
that should be optimized, such as weight and temperature rise.
The minimum value of the Response Surface can then be
found within the design space, and this design created and
solved to check the performance of the design. An alternative
to using RSM is use SO, which entails starting from the best
design found from the DoE set of simulations, and stepping
sequentially towards the optimum using analysis of previously
solved models to guide the step size and direction within the
design space.
In contrast to the traditional approach, using the SC
Number field and the physical insights it offers allows
designers to create near-optimal design configurations directly
from a single simulation.
The following section will discuss the implementation of
both techniques for a selected subset of heat sink design, and
draw conclusions about the results and calculation time.

6. Heat Sink Profile Optimization
The first heat sink design task considered is the optimization
of individual fin heights and lengths in the flow direction for
an extruded plate fin heat sink. The test case for this design
task is described in Table 1 and Figure 9.


Figure 9: Over-sized Heat Sink and 100 Watt Source




Blackmore et al., Heat Sink Design Optimization Using the

28th IEEE SEMI-THERM Symposium
Material Aluminum, k=137 W/mK
Base Thickness 5 mm
Base Length 300 mm
Base Width 300 mm
Fin Thickness 1 mm
Fin Height 295 mm
Number of Fins 52
Device Air Speed 1 m/s
Heat Source Size 5 x 5 mm
Heat Source 100 W
Table 1: Base Case Heat Sink Parameters

This is a simplified case which consists of a deliberately
oversized heat sink with a small heat source at the center of a
thick base. We have also fixed the device velocity, i.e. the
velocity of the flow entering the finned region is constant and
uniform across the fin gap. Note that the deliberate over
sizing of this heat sink was necessary to effectively isolate the
effect of the fin height and length changes on heat sink
performance, i.e., the conclusions of the study would be
obfuscated by base spreading effects, non-uniform flow rate
distributions in the channels were a more practical initial heat
sink design selected for analysis. This approach is the same
as that taken in [4].

6.1. DoE Description
We first adopt a classical DoE approach, where the
parameters that describe the shape of the volume to be
removed from the heat sink are defined as independent
variables. The shape of the heat sink to be designed is
constrained to be prismatic as shown in Figure 9 to reduce the
number of simulations required (i.e. it is prohibitively
expensive to parametrically describe a heat sink with a fully
general geometric profile). This is in itself a limitation of the
DoE approach, though insight into the general dimensions of
the optimal heat sink may look like can still be ascertained by
this approach to some degree. The parameters used are
described in Figure 10 and Table 2.


Figure 10: Parameters Used to Describe a Prismatic Heat
Sink Profile in Relation to Base Case Heat Sink


Parameter Range
A Heat Sink Base Width 30 300 mm
B Heat Sink Maximum Height 15 300 mm
C Distance from Heat Source Center
to Upstream Edge
15 150 mm
D Distance from Heat Source Center
to Downstream Edge
15 150 mm
Table 2: Prismatic Heat Sink Parameter and DoE Ranges.

A DoE of 500 designs (representing approximately 125
designs per design parameter) was constructed so that the
range of each parameter was varied independently over the
range shown in Table 2. This is a larger number of
simulations per parameter than described in Section 5 and was
selected to more completely fill the design space and avoid
comparing results later with data interpolated from a surface
response. For each scenario, the temperature at the heat source
and the volume of the heat sink were recorded. Instead of
forming cost functions with various degrees of emphasis on
source temperature and heat sink mass, the data was organized
to sort the simulation results by thermal performance (in the
form of heat sink thermal resistance increase from the base
heat sink), and then by heat sink mass reduction (again
compared to the base case). For any given acceptable
thermal performance level, we can then quickly determine
the smallest heat sink that is able to deliver that performance
based on the DoE results.
The results of the DoE are plotted in Figure 11, showing
only data points with an increase in thermal resistance of less
than 100% for clarity.


Figure 11: DoE Results. All percentage changes are in
reference to the base heat sink results.

6.2. SC-based Optimization
For a general thermal design application, use of the SC
Number for heat sink design optimization proceeds as
follows. The correlation with local Nusselt numbers means
that on convective surfaces, regions with larger values of SC
are deemed to be operating more efficiently than regions with
smaller values of SC. These relatively inefficient convective
surfaces can then be identified as candidates for removal in

Blackmore et al., Heat Sink Design Optimization Using the

28th IEEE SEMI-THERM Symposium
the interest of mass and cost reduction, as well as increasing
overall volume flow and decreasing pressure drop.
The identified design change is implemented in the
computational model, and then solved to re-calculate the SC
distribution, which is then used to identify other potential
design changes. This process is repeated, until a thermally
satisfactory design is arrived at. In this section, we will work
though one such design change derivation, and in the process
validate that the SC distribution can replicate the most
efficient designs found in the DoE.
The SC field for the base case is plotted in Figure 12.


Figure 12: SC Distribution for Base Case

For this type of analysis it is useful to define a threshold,
under which any value of SC on a convective surface is
deemed to be ineffective and should be removed. Any point
on a surface with SC greater than the selected threshold
should be retained as a part of the optimal heat sink design.
This is most conveniently displayed with an isosurface plot.
Figure 13 is an example of such a plot, where all points in the
model with normalized SC = 0.001 are connected and
displayed for the base case model. The color of the plot is
unimportant and chosen to add texture to the plot and improve
visibility.



Figure 13: Normalized SC = 0.001 Isosurface Plot

Using the data observed in Section 6.1, well select the
best heat sink design for two selected thermal performance
levels, and determine the most equivalent SC threshold value
for that thermal performance level. The expectation is that
there will be an SC isosurface that compares well with each
DoE optimal result. This of course assumes that constraining
the DoE heat sink methodology to use prismatic heat sinks
was an acceptable course of action as is suggested by the
results presented in [6].

1% Increase in Rth_heatsink

The first value selected is an acceptable increase of 1% for
heat sink thermal resistance. The DoE results yield the
optimal prismatic heat sink as shown in Figure 14 and Table
3.

Parameter Range
A Heat Sink Base Width 226 mm
B Heat Sink Maximum Height 202.5 mm
C Distance from Heat Source Center
to Upstream Edge
93.3 mm
D Distance from Heat Source Center
to Downstream Edge
126.8 mm
Heat Sink Thermal Resistance Increase 0.99%
Heat Sink Mass Reduction 81.35%
Table 3: DoE Optimal Heat Sink for Rth Increase < 1%



Blackmore et al., Heat Sink Design Optimization Using the

28th IEEE SEMI-THERM Symposium

Figure 14: DoE Optimal Heat Sink for Rth increase < 1%.
Wireframe box shows the extent of the base case heat sink.

By adjusting the SC threshold used to create the SC isosurface
for the base case, a value of SC = 0.00008 was judged to be
the best qualitative comparison with the ideal prismatic heat
sink as shown in Figures 15-16. This is a good result,
confirming expectations that an SC isosurface does predict a
heat sink geometry topology that is very similar to a DoE
optimized results, albeit with some discrepancies due to the
prismatic assumption built into the DoE setup.


Figure 15: Left half shows the geometry for the DoE best
result for Rth increase < 1%. Right half shows SC = 0.00008
isosurface for base model. View is from the front.


Figure 16: Top half shows the geometry of the DoE best
result for Rth increase < 1%. Bottom half shows SC =
0.00008 isosurface for base model. View is from above.

12% Increase in Rth_heatsink

The second value selected is an acceptable increase of 12%
for heat sink thermal resistance. The DoE results yield the
optimal prismatic heat sink as shown in Figure 17 and Table
4.

Parameter Range
A Heat Sink Base Width 129.9 mm
B Heat Sink Maximum Height 121 mm
C Distance from Heat Source Center
to Upstream Edge
61.2 mm
D Distance from Heat Source Center
to Downstream Edge
63.6 mm
Heat Sink Thermal Resistance Increase 11.38%
Heat Sink Mass Reduction 96.37%
Table 4: DoE Optimal Heat Sink for Rth Increase < 12%



Blackmore et al., Heat Sink Design Optimization Using the

28th IEEE SEMI-THERM Symposium

Figure 17: DoE Best Heat Sink for Rth increase < 12%.
Wireframe box shows the extent of the base case heat sink.

By adjusting the SC threshold used to create the SC isosurface
for the base case, a value of SC = 0.0007 was judged to be the
best qualitative comparison with the ideal prismatic heat sink
as shown in Figures 18-19. This is another good result,
confirming expectations that the two means to determine the
ideal heat sink for a certain minimum thermal performance
criteria yield similar results.


Figure 18: Left half shows the geometry of the DoE best
result for Rth increase < 12%. Right half shows SC = 0.0007
isosurface for base model. View from the front.



Figure 19: Top half shows the geometry of the DoE best
result for Rth increase < 12%. Bottom half shows SC =
0.0007 isosurface for base model. View from the top.

Its important to note that while the results are similar, there
are differences in time to calculate and profile geometric
flexibility. The DoE approach in general can require hundreds
of simulations to produce reliable answers, and that is
required even when restricting the shapes to be investigated.
The SC approach requires a single simulation to produce
similar results, and as demonstrated by the isosurfaces in
Figures 13, 15, 16, 18, and 19, does not require any
restrictions or assumptions about allowable heat sink topology
to begin. Rather, the SC threshold isosurface can form any
shape, and leaves the designer to determine which level of
optimal shape approximation is best from an analysis and cost
of manufacturing perspective. Note that were the shape
described by the SC isosurface manufacturable, it would
present less of an obstruction to the approaching flow,
reducing both pressure drop and the wake downstream of the
heat sink.

7. Heat Sink Application 2
This SC threshold isosurface approach will next be
considered for a more detailed and realistic electronics
cooling application, a case involving many heat sources and
components. The geometry for this application is shown in
Figure 20. It consists of a sealed aluminum, ribbed enclosure
with 19 fins on each side. Inside the enclosure are a printed
circuit board with components on both sides (30 W total
dissipation) and a 20 W power supply. The cooling strategy is
to include conduction posts to the enclosure for the largest
dissipation components and force air over the external heat
sink fins.


Blackmore et al., Heat Sink Design Optimization Using the
Figure 20: Geometry of Sealed Ribbed Enclosure and Internal
Contents.

A SC = 0.0015 isosurface around the fins on the top heat
sink is shown in Figures 21-23 from several viewing
perspectives. The SC threshold value chosen was determined
by varying the value of SC used to create the isosurface plot
from 0.0001 to 0.1 and selecting the SC value that produced a
plot that partially covered most of the fins on the top of the
chassis to some degree. By doing so, we can use the relative
coverage of the fins by the isosurface plot to draw conclusions
about the relative effectiveness of each fin.
section, the created isosurface was used to create a new heat
sink profile. In this case well use the isosurface shape to
determine which fins should be removed completely.

Figure 21: SC = 0.0015 isosurface viewed from side.

the

28th IEEE

: Geometry of Sealed Ribbed Enclosure and Internal
= 0.0015 isosurface around the fins on the top heat
from several viewing
The SC threshold value chosen was determined
varying the value of SC used to create the isosurface plot
.1 and selecting the SC value that produced a
plot that partially covered most of the fins on the top of the
chassis to some degree. By doing so, we can use the relative
coverage of the fins by the isosurface plot to draw conclusions
ectiveness of each fin. In the previous
section, the created isosurface was used to create a new heat
sink profile. In this case well use the isosurface shape to
should be removed completely.

viewed from side.
Figure 22: SC = 0.0015 isosurface. Isometric View.

Figure 23: SC = 0.0015 isosurface.

Considering the isosurface geometry, and moving from
left to right in Figure 23, fins 9-13 have the largest proportion
of their surfaces operating efficiently, with a large fraction of
these fins covered by the isosurface. Fins 1
do not have as much surface area covered by the S
isosurface, and the priority of remo
determined by observing the relative amount of each fin that
is covered by the SC isosurface. The end fins, in particular
Fins 1, 18, 19, are not covered at all and we would expect to
see little thermal performance degradation i
removed.
To confirm these observations, each one of the heat sink
fins on the top surface of the enclosure was numerically
removed in sequence (but only one removed at a time). The
temperature of several components on the top side of the
was recorded for each scenario as a measure of the deleterious
effects of removing that heat sink fin. The
in Figure 24.

th IEEE SEMI-THERM Symposium

: SC = 0.0015 isosurface. Isometric View.

: SC = 0.0015 isosurface. Front View.
Considering the isosurface geometry, and moving from
13 have the largest proportion
of their surfaces operating efficiently, with a large fraction of
these fins covered by the isosurface. Fins 1-8 and Fins 14-19
do not have as much surface area covered by the SC
isosurface, and the priority of removing each of these fins is
determined by observing the relative amount of each fin that
isosurface. The end fins, in particular
Fins 1, 18, 19, are not covered at all and we would expect to
see little thermal performance degradation if they were to be
To confirm these observations, each one of the heat sink
fins on the top surface of the enclosure was numerically
removed in sequence (but only one removed at a time). The
temperature of several components on the top side of the PCB
was recorded for each scenario as a measure of the deleterious
effects of removing that heat sink fin. The results are shown

Blackmore et al., Heat Sink Design Optimization Using the
Figure 24: Normalized Component Temperature Increase for
the successive removal of each individual fin in

If we consider Figure 23 and Figure 24
observe that the fins that exhibited small values of SC
original calculation could be removed with the least impact on
these component temperatures. This again agrees with
concept of using SC as a means to evaluate which fins are the
least effective.

8. Conclusions
This work has demonstrated how the SC number
correlates with the local Nusselt number, and therefore how
the distribution of the SC scalar field around convective
surfaces provides insight into the relative ef
these surfaces. The visualization of the SC field was
demonstrated to have utility in the design of heat sinks, in
particular by identifying those fins and surfaces that could be
removed with minimal impact on thermal performance. The
results compared well with traditional methods of
approaching these design tasks, such as DoE or simply
calculating all possible design alternatives, and did so with a
single simulation.
This design methodology for heat sinks complements the
design insights provided by the BN field [4]. The usage of
BN and SC distributions is not limited to heat sink design of
course, with the principles discussed here being easily applied
to other thermal management applications.

Acknowledgments
CFD simulations and BN and SC post-
carried out with Mentor Graphics FloTHERM V9.2
References

1. John Parry, Robin Bornoff, Byron Blackmore
Thermal BottleNecks and ShortCut opportunities;
innovations in electronics thermal design simulation
Electronics Cooling Magazine, Vol. 16, No.
2010, pp. 24-25.
2. Byron Blackmore, John Parry and Robin Bornoff
New 3D thermal quantities help designers address
the

28th IEEE

: Normalized Component Temperature Increase for
fin in turn.
together, we can
all values of SC in the
original calculation could be removed with the least impact on
component temperatures. This again agrees with the
as a means to evaluate which fins are the
the SC number
correlates with the local Nusselt number, and therefore how
the distribution of the SC scalar field around convective
provides insight into the relative effectiveness of
these surfaces. The visualization of the SC field was
demonstrated to have utility in the design of heat sinks, in
particular by identifying those fins and surfaces that could be
act on thermal performance. The
results compared well with traditional methods of
approaching these design tasks, such as DoE or simply
calculating all possible design alternatives, and did so with a
ks complements the
design insights provided by the BN field [4]. The usage of
BN and SC distributions is not limited to heat sink design of
course, with the principles discussed here being easily applied
-processing were
h Mentor Graphics FloTHERM V9.2 software.
John Parry, Robin Bornoff, Byron Blackmore,
Thermal BottleNecks and ShortCut opportunities;
design simulation
Electronics Cooling Magazine, Vol. 16, No. 3, Fall
Byron Blackmore, John Parry and Robin Bornoff,
New 3D thermal quantities help designers address
thermal problems as they arise Cover Story in
Printed Circuit Board De
Magazine, Vol. 29, No. 11, pp. 30
3. Wendy Luiten, Thermal Design in the Design for
Six Sigma DIDOV Framework, Proceedings of
27
th
IEEE SEMI-THERM Symposium, San Jose,
CA, March 2011, pp. 272-279.
4. Bornoff, Robin., Blackmore, Byron.,
Heat Sink Design Optimization Using the Thermal
Bottleneck Concept, Proceedings of 27
SEMI-THERM Symposium, San Jose, CA, March
2011, pp. 76-80.
5. J. Parry, Robin Bornoff, P. Stehouwer, Lonneke
Driessen and Erwin Stinstra, Simulation
Design Optimisation Methodologies Applied to
CFD, Proceedings of 19th SEMI
Symposium, San Jose CA, March 2003, pp. 8
6. Kaka, Sadik, Ramesh K. Shah & Win Aung,
Handbook of Single-Phase Convective Heat
Transfer, John Wiley & Sons (New York
3 pp. 35.
7. Byron Blackmore, Robin Bornoff, Thermal
Bottlenecks and ShortCut Opportunities; Innovations
in Electronics Thermal Design by Simulation,
Mentor Graphics SupportNet, May 20, 2011.


th IEEE SEMI-THERM Symposium
thermal problems as they arise Cover Story in
Printed Circuit Board Design & Fabrication
Magazine, Vol. 29, No. 11, pp. 30-32.
Wendy Luiten, Thermal Design in the Design for
DIDOV Framework, Proceedings of
THERM Symposium, San Jose,
279.
Bornoff, Robin., Blackmore, Byron., Parry, John.,
Heat Sink Design Optimization Using the Thermal
Bottleneck Concept, Proceedings of 27
th
IEEE
THERM Symposium, San Jose, CA, March
J. Parry, Robin Bornoff, P. Stehouwer, Lonneke
Driessen and Erwin Stinstra, Simulation-Based
Design Optimisation Methodologies Applied to
CFD, Proceedings of 19th SEMI-THERM
Symposium, San Jose CA, March 2003, pp. 8-13.
Kaka, Sadik, Ramesh K. Shah & Win Aung,
Phase Convective Heat
Transfer, John Wiley & Sons (New York 1987) Ch.
Byron Blackmore, Robin Bornoff, Thermal
Bottlenecks and ShortCut Opportunities; Innovations
in Electronics Thermal Design by Simulation,
Mentor Graphics SupportNet, May 20, 2011.