Summary of THE MOST EFFICIENT HEAT SINKS ARE PRODUCED COST-EFFICIENTLY BY VALCUN
ValCUN argues that growing energy density and hotspots require fluid cooling and optimized heat-sink designs achievable only with additive manufacturing. Because metal AM is costly and slow for mass production, ValCUN uses hybrid manufacturing—combining die casting or extrusion with targeted metal AM—to deliver high-performance, cost-efficient heat sinks. Generative designs have shown 40% improved cooling for three IGBTs; producing 100,000 parts purely by SLM would be too slow and exceed €100 per part.
Parts used in the ValCUN heat sink project:
- Generatively optimized heat-sink geometry (additive-manufactured regions)
- Die-cast or extruded base/structural components
- Metal material suitable for SLM and die casting/extrusion (unspecified alloy)
- IGBT modules (three per cooler in the example)
- Cooling fluid channels for water or glycol
- Hybrid manufacturing equipment combining die casting/extrusion and metal AM
We live in a society in which we strive for higher performance and efficiency in everything around us. Computers go to a 7nm process, supercomputers do 148.6 petaflops and electric cars aim for a range of 1000km.
From a technological point of view, these evolutions usually come down to a higher energy density, and related temperature hotspots. Traditional solutions such as air cooling with extruded aluminium profile are no longer sufficient. By Jonas Galle (ValCUN)
There is a need for more efficient cooling to maintain our technological progress. Cooling with a fluid (water, glycol, …) instead of air provides 10x to 100x better thermal transfer. An optimized design of the heat sink can increase the efficiency by a factor of two or more. Generative optimised design is so complex that they cannot be produced by traditional techniques such as milling, die-casting, extrusion, … The only alternative is an additive manufacturing (AM).
Several metal AM techniques are available today. Main disadvantage of these AM technologies is the production price and speed. These barriers are the main reasons why we don’t yet see them in mainstream applications. Economical serial production of complex heat sinks is the focus of ValCUN. This is done by hybrid manufacturing. Hightech where needed and fast and economical where possible. ValCUN combines traditional production technologies such as diecasting or extrusion with its disruptive metal AM technology.
For the cooling of three IGBT’s a generative design increased cooling performance by 40%. Manufacturing 100.000 coolers with metal additive manufacturing technology known as SLM would not be possible within two year on one machine and would cost more than € 100 per part.
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- Why is traditional air cooling with extruded aluminium no longer sufficient?
Because higher energy densities and temperature hotspots require better thermal transfer than air cooling can provide. - How much better is fluid cooling compared to air cooling?
Cooling with a fluid provides 10x to 100x better thermal transfer according to the article. - What advantage does generative optimized heat-sink design provide?
Generative optimized design can increase cooling efficiency by a factor of two or more and in one example improved cooling performance by 40% for three IGBTs. - Why can't traditional manufacturing techniques produce generatively optimized designs?
Because generative designs are so complex that they cannot be produced by traditional techniques such as milling, die-casting, or extrusion. - What is ValCUNs approach to make efficient heat sinks cost-effective?
ValCUN uses hybrid manufacturing, combining traditional production like die casting or extrusion with targeted metal additive manufacturing. - Why is pure metal additive manufacturing (SLM) not feasible for large-scale production?
Because production price and speed are prohibitive; manufacturing 100,000 coolers with SLM on one machine would take over two years and cost more than €100 per part. - Which metal AM technology is mentioned in the article?
The article mentions SLM as the metal additive manufacturing technology referenced. - What cooling fluids are suggested in the article?
The article suggests water and glycol as example cooling fluids.
