Horizontal Axis Spreading Applications

Aavid HiContact™ heat spreading designs can be useful where vertical space is constrained or to save weight. Heat pipes can be added to an aluminum base when the use of higher thermally conductive metal like copper cannot be tolerated due to weight. Heat pipes can also be embedded in copper bases to increase spreading without adding mass to the solution. Examples of application characteristics where horizontal spreading solutions using HiContact™heat pipes may solve design issues include:

• Limited space—Heat pipes can spread the cooling solution volume horizontally rather than vertically to achieve desired thermal performance.
• High shock or vibration—Heat pipes can be embedded into aluminum bases to meet or exceed the performance of heavier copper base solutions. The resulting lighter weight can reduce the cost and complexity of the mechanical attachment method for the thermal solution.
• Limited power consumption—The power consumption budget for the design may not allow for the addition of a fan for increased localized cooling of a device. Heat pipes may improve the performance of the thermal solution to the point where additional localized airflow is not necessary.
• Higher MTBF —Elimination of fans or operating them at lower RPMs can increase system reliability and lower maintenance costs. Passive solutions using heat pipes may increase performance at lower airflow than with conventional thermal solutions.

Horizontal spreading designs use the Aavid patented Hi-Contact™ system to integrate heat pipes into the base plate. The system allows the construction of a base plate where the copper heat pipe can be in direct contact with the heat source eliminating any aluminum or solder joints between the heat source and embedded heat pipe. Using our Hi-Contact™ method of construction we are able to provide the thinnest possible bond line between the heat pipe and the surrounding heat sink material. The thin bond line enhances thermal transfer efficiency into the surrounding material.

Typical Applications Include:

• Telecommunication equipment
• Computing—servers, desktops and workstations
• Rugged computing
• Motor Drives
• UPS
• Traction
• Military equipment