The Advantages of Aluminum Heat Sinks and Major Types

Heat sinks are grouped by manufacturing processes such as extrusion and machining. Copper and aluminum are common materials.

Heat sinks material: aluminum and copper

The heat sinks is usually made of aluminum or copper. Each material has its own advantages. The following are the main differences.

Aluminum heat sinks

Aluminum is the most commonly used heat sinks material. Extruded aluminum heat sinks are widely used and meet the needs of most projects. Aluminum is lighter in texture and has relatively good thermal conductivity.

Copper heat sinks Copper conducts heat faster than aluminum. The disadvantage is also obvious, that is, weight and cost. This kind of metal is usually used when the thermal conductivity is higher than the weight requirement.

6 types of heat sinks (classified by manufacturing process)

The manufacturing process of each heat sinks is not exactly the same, the following are six common heat sinks types:

#1-Extruded heat sinks

Most heat sinks are made of extruded aluminum. The extruded heat sinks is cheap and can be customized according to the mold manufacturing. Extruded heat sinks have a wide range of applications. The main disadvantage is that the size will be limited by the maximum width of the extrusion.

#2-Bonded Heat Sinks

These are usually used for large heat sinks applications. One of the advantages is that the base material and the heat sinks material can be different. Likewise, a combination of aluminum and copper can be used instead of just a single fin material. However, the improvement of thermal performance will result in an increase in weight and cost. Bonded fin heat sinks usually provide specific performance

#3-Skived Heat Sinks

The heat sinks produced by this method is usually made of solid metal blocks, in most cases made of copper. It has high flexibility in design and can achieve high fin density. This also increases the surface area and improves heat dissipation efficiency. They have moderate to high-performance performance. The disadvantages are usually heavy weight and high directional sensitivity.

#4-Stamped heat sinks

The cut aluminum parts are stamped and then welded to the base. These are usually used for low-power electronic components and other applications. Since production automation can be realized relatively easily, the cost is very low. Of course, poor performance is its biggest disadvantage.

#5-Forged heat sinks

The forged heat sinks is made of compressed aluminum or copper and can be used in a variety of scenarios. The heat sinks can be cold forged or hot forged and has medium performance. The advantage is that it can be manufactured in large quantities at low cost. The disadvantage is that the design functions provided are relatively limited.

#6-CNC machined heat sinks

These heat sinks can provide high thermal conductivity, and CNC machining can achieve the most complex geometries. This means higher flexibility in the design. Of course, their cost is high and the processing time is longer.

Because the heat sinks help to absorb and dissipate the heat generated by the electronic equipment. Therefore, it is necessary to select the appropriate type according to design requirements and component volume requirements. We SAT Amorphous can help you to choose an active aluminum heat sinks to enhance heat dissipation according to the actual situation, or use a passive aluminum heat sinks where there are no moving parts. In terms of materials, aluminum can also reduce weight and cost.

SAT Amorphous can design and manufacture aluminum heat sinks according to your needs, please leave a message to let us know.

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