Vertical Axis Spreading Applications

Vertical heat spreading designs can be useful where horizontal space is constrained or where the use of higher thermal conductive metal like copper cannot be tolerated due to weight. Examples of application characteristics where vertical spreading heat pipe solutions may solve design issues include:

• Limited space—Heat pipes can spread the cooling solution volume vertically rather than horizontally to achieve desired thermal performance.
• 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.

Typical Applications Include:

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