"Heat shield"-an enhancement device for an unshrouded, forced convection heat sink

The inherent advantages of forced air cooling have led to the widespread use of fully- and partially-shrouded heat sinks for the thermal management of high power microprocessors. The superior thermal performance that is achievable in the fully-shrouded configuration is accompanied by a significant pressure drop penalty. The concept introduced in the current study, employs a thin sheet-metal "heat shield", placed around a partially-shrouded heat sink, to channel the flow directly into the heat sink. A combined numerical and experimental study has shown that the use of this "heat shield" can substantially enhance heat sink thermal performance, in a channel geometry and air flow range typical of commercial chip packages; making it comparable to that of a fully-shrouded heat sink, with a substantially lower pressure drop (∼50%). In addition, this thermal enhancement device can be easily retrofitted into existing systems; improving performance without major channel and/or fan modifications.