Resistance Network Analysis of Airflow and Heat Transfer in a Thin Electronic Equipment Enclosure With a Localized Finned Heat Sink

In recent years, thermal design of electrical equipment becomes importance and fast thermal design is required due to the fast development of electrical devices. We have proposed the flow and thermal resistance network analysis (coupled network analysis) as a fast thermal design method for electrical equipment. In this paper, we described analytical accuracy of the coupled network analysis of thin electronic equipment including the finned heat sink. We especially focused on the prediction of thermal performance on heatsink by using the coupled network analysis. For considering the accuracy of the coupled network analysis, we compared the results of the coupled network analysis with those of CFD analysis and the experiment. The results showed that the coupled network analysis can predict accurate thermal performance of heat sink and moreover accurate temperature distribution of electrical equipment.Copyright © 2010 by ASME