A fluid flow and heat transfer analysis for evaluating the effectiveness of an IC package heat sink

The heat generated by integrated circuits is often dissipated by heat sinks on the packages. A numerical method for evaluating the design of such heat sinks is presented. A method is described that numerically solves the Navier-Stokes and continuity equations to determine the flow patterns over the IC package. The temperatures in both the solid and fluid are determined by solving a single thermal energy equation for both media. This numerical method is embodied in a computer code called FLOTRAN, which is used to simulate the cooling of a package with a four-finned heat sink attached. The results include flow patterns, temperatures and film heat transfer coefficients. The same IC package was also experimentally tested to determine the cooling effects. The experimental setup and results are described. The measured temperatures compare well to those predicted by FLOTRAN.<>