8 Circuit Board Heat Sink Manufacturers in 2023
This section provides an overview for circuit board heat sinks as well as their applications and principles. Also, please take a look at the list of 8 circuit board heat sink manufacturers and their company rankings.
Table of Contents
What Is a Circuit Board Heat Sink?
Heat sinks are used to stabilize circuit operation by dissipating the heat generated by electronic and electrical components mounted on printed circuit boards.
Semiconductor components in various circuits tend to generate a large amount of heat, especially when a large amount of driving power is required. As semiconductor processes evolve, large scale integrated circuits are being realized in extremely small sizes, and devices that provide complex and advanced functions and performance are also generating large amounts of heat.
In order to reduce the amount of heat generated as much as possible, various efforts are being made on the semiconductor device side to reduce power consumption. However, in many cases, heat sinks are still necessary to maintain stable operation of such devices under various environments and conditions.
Uses of Circuit Board Heat Sinks
Among the semiconductor components mounted on these printed circuit boards, circuit board heat sinks are often used for ICs for power supply control and SOCs and microprocessors for system control that generate heat in particular.
In power supply control ICs, the key is how to extract the necessary voltage efficiently in a series of processes that convert the commercial 100 VAC input into direct current, convert it into the voltage required inside the circuit, and further eliminate noise, which in many cases generates heat. In this case, circuit board heat sinks are used. The generation of heat in power supply circuits can sometimes lead to problems such as ignition, so careful design is necessary.
In addition, SOCs and microprocessors used to control the system operate at higher speeds as the amount of data to be processed increases, and as a result, the amount of heat generated also increases. Therefore, careful management of heat dissipation is necessary to maintain stable operation of the system.
Principle of Circuit Board Heat Sinks
Circuit board heat sinks are made of aluminum, iron, or copper, which have good thermal conductivity. In order to further increase the heat dissipation capacity of the heat sink, the surface area of the heat sink is expanded.
The surface area can be expanded by placing many thin plates on the surface of a plate heat sink, or by using a structure of many rods bonded to the surface of a plate heat sink.
In addition to such heat sinks, air-cooling fans are sometimes used to reduce ambient temperature by forcing air to move through a power drive when heat needs to be dissipated more efficiently.
Air-cooled fans are a very effective way to dissipate heat, but they are more expensive than ordinary heat sinks because they have their own drive unit. Therefore, they are used only in cases where there are no other alternatives and a slight increase in system cost is acceptable.
A special bond made of silicon with good thermal conductivity is used to ensure the highest possible thermal conductivity between the connected components and the heat sink.
Forced-Air Cooling of Circuit Board Heat Sinks
There are two cooling methods for heat sinks: natural air cooling and forced air cooling. Natural air cooling, as the name implies, relies solely on heat dissipation from the heat sink and is more advantageous in an open space with no enclosure.
Forced air cooling, on the other hand, refers to airflow using fans. When forced air cooling is used, it is better to have an enclosure. This system controls the air velocity inside the enclosure by the size of the duct opening to dissipate heat.
There are two ways to use fans in corrective air cooling.
One is as a ventilation fan that exchanges air from inside and outside the enclosure to lower the internal air temperature. Airflow is important in order to exchange more air.
The second is as a fan to blow heat around heating elements, in this case heat sinks. Air velocity is important for this.
In forced air cooling, too large a flow path reduces air velocity, and too small a flow path reduces airflow. To maintain proper air velocity and air volume, it is important that the minimum cross-sectional area of the flow path be equal to or greater than the minimum cross-sectional area of the fan.
How to Fix a Circuit Board Heat Sink
There are various methods of fixing heat sinks to PCBs. Here are four typical examples.
Fixing With Thermally Conductive Double-Sided Tape
This method is to fix a heat sink by inserting a highly thermally conductive double-sided adhesive tape between the heat sink and the heating element. This method is often used for small, light heat sinks.
Push Pin
Push pins are used to secure the heat sink to the board, and spring tension is used to hold the heat sink in place. When mounting on a BGA chip, the load is determined by the spring without generating tensile force on the solder between the board and the IC when the board vibrates.
Z Shape Clip
Two anchors are provided on the board, and Z-shaped wire clips are used to secure the board. Features of this method are that it is easy to attach and detach.
Stepped Screws
This method is similar to the push-pin method. This method is similar to the push-pin method. The heat sink can be easily replaced by simply turning a screw.
List of 8 Circuit Board Heat Sink Manufacturers
*Including some distributors, etc.
Sort by Features
- Default
- Company Size: largest first
- Year Founded: oldest first
- Year Founded: earliest first
Sort by Area
- China
- United States of America
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Zaward Corporation
Board Level Heat Sink
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Heatell
PCB Heat Sink
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Himalay Engineering Co.
Heat Sink PCB
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PW Circuits Ltd
Heatsink bonding
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db Electronic
Heatsink PCB
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Circuit Board Heat Sink Manufacturer Ranking
*Including some distributors, etc.Number of Employees
Newly Established Company
- RayMing Technology: 2005 (18 years ago)
- Epec: 1952 (71 years ago)
Company with a History
- Epec: 1952 (71 years ago)
- RayMing Technology: 2005 (18 years ago)
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