Enhanced Heat Transfer in Radial Heat Sinks for LED Lamps

A radial design of a passive heat sink for cooling LED illumination devices is analyzed numerically in order to identify the geometric shape that promotes better heat dissipation rates. Natural convection with the surrounding is considered during the operation of the heat sink. Due to the fact that natural convection is the main mechanism of heat transfer, the shape of the heat sink has a high influence in the heat dissipated. An analysis of the influence of different parameters of a heat sink is conducted in the presented study. The radial heat sink under analysis consists in a flat disc with rectangular fins on it, and the fins are distributed with a radial longitudinal orientation in a circular row arrangement. The number of rows can vary but there is a constant relation of two times the number of fins between the number of fins in an inner row and the next outer row. In order to find a correct configuration to improve the dissipation of heat, parameters like the number of fins, the length of the fins and the separation between fins are studied. The average Nusselt number and thermal resistance for each geometric configuration are compared. The output analysis provides the best shape for a maximum heat transfer.