HEAT SINK WITH MULTIPLE VAPOR CHAMBERS
A heat sink is disclosed. The heat sink comprises a base (102, 402) with at least one vapor chamber (208, 408) containing a fluid with a first activation point. The base has at least one vapor chamber (212, 412) containing a fluid with a second activation point. The first activation point is different than the second activation point.
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Computer systems and servers generate large amounts of heat. A significant portion of the heat generated in these systems comes from individual electronic components mounted in the systems, for example the central processing units (CPU). A heat sink is typically mounted to the components to help remove the heat generated by the component. As the chip densities of the components have increased, the heat produced by the components has also increased.
Some components operate at different power levels depending on the current demands of the system. When the component is operating at full power, it may generate large amounts of heat. When operating at lower power, or when in a standby mode of operation, the amount of heat generated may be significantly reduced, compared to the high power condition. Constructing a heat sink that efficiently removes the heat under all of the operating condition of the component has become a challenge.
Heat sink 100 is typically positioned on top of a component that requires cooling, for example component 106. In some example embodiments of the invention, the bottom of heat sink 100 may have a cavity sized to accept component 106 such that component 106 contacts heat sink 100 on the top and the four sides of component 106. A thermal grease may be placed between component 106 and heat sink 100 to increase the thermal coupling between the two parts.
In operation, when the component 106 is operating at a lower power or in a standby mode, the component 106 will dissipate a first amount of power. When the component 106 is operating in a high power mode, a second, higher amount of power will be dissipated by the component 106. In general, a higher amount of power dissipated by the component 106 will correspond to a higher temperature at the base of the heat sink. When the secondary vapor chambers 212 contain a fluid with a lower boiling point than the fluid in the first vapor chamber 208, the fluid in the secondary vapor chambers will boil at the lower power or standby operating mode of the component. As the component dissipates more power, the fluid in the secondary vapor chambers may saturate (i.e. never get cool enough to condense). Once saturated, the fluid in a vapor chamber has a lower capacity to transfer heat. The fluid in the first vapor chamber (with a higher boiling point) will start to boil as the temperature of the component increases. In this way the fluid in the secondary vapor chambers transfers the heat from the component across the heat sink during lower power operations. As the temperature of the component increases, the fluid inside the first vapor chamber is used to transfer the heat from the component across the heat sink.
The second fluid inside the two secondary vapor chambers 212 follows a similar flow pattern. The fluid boils where the vapor chambers are positioned over component 106 and the vapor condenses as the vapor chambers moves away from component 106. When the second fluid in the two secondary vapor chambers 212 has a lower boiling point than the first fluid in the first vapor chamber 208 the second fluid will activate and boil at a lower temperature than the first fluid.
In one example embodiment of the invention, the fluids inside the first and second vapor chambers may be different working fluids with different boiling points. For example, the fluid in the first vapor chamber may be water and the fluid inside the secondary vapor chambers may be alcohol. In another example embodiment of the invention, the fluids inside the first and second vapor chambers may be the same working fluid, but the different vapor chambers may be filled with different volumes and pressures of the fluid to adjust the boiling point of the fluids in the different vapor chambers to activate at different power and temperatures. In another example embodiment of the invention, the different vapor chambers may have unique surface treatments and/or wicking structures that modify the activation points of the fluids contained in the vapor chamber. In one example embodiment of the invention, the first activation point may be in the range of 35-65 degrees C., and the second activation point may be in the range of 60-80 degrees C.
Heat sink 100 is shown with the secondary vapor chamber 212 broken into two separate parts (see
In some example embodiments of the invention, the first vapor chamber may be broken into more than one volume.
In some example embodiments of the invention, the component to be cooled may have more than two different power levels. For example, the component may have a standby mode, a low power operating point, and a high power operating point. In this example embodiment of the invention there may be three or more vapor chambers with different boiling or activation points. For example, in
Claims
1. A heat sink, comprising:
- a base;
- at least one vapor chamber inside the base having a fluid with a first activation point;
- at least one vapor chamber inside the base having a fluid with a second activation point wherein the first activation point is different than the second activation point.
2. The heat sink of claim 1, wherein the fluid with the first activation point and the fluid with the second activation point are the same fluid.
3. The heat sink of claim 1, wherein a volume of the least one vapor chamber inside the base having a fluid with a first activation point is larger than a volume of the at least one vapor chamber inside the base having a fluid with a second activation point.
4. The heat sink of claim 1, wherein the first activation point is higher than the second activation point.
5. The heat sink of claim 1, wherein the at least one vapor chamber inside the base having a fluid with a second activation point is contained inside the at least one vapor chamber inside the base having a fluid with a first activation point.
6. The heat sink of claim 1, wherein the at least one vapor chamber inside the base having a fluid with a second activation point is comprised of at least one heat pipe.
7. The heat sink of claim 1, wherein the at least one vapor chamber inside the base having a fluid with a first activation point is comprised of at least one heat pipe.
8. The heat sink of claim 1, wherein: the first activation point is between 60 and 80 degrees C. and the second activation point is between 35 and 65 degrees C.
9. The heat sink of claim 1, further comprising:
- a least one vapor chamber inside the base having a fluid with a third activation point wherein the third activation point is different than the first or second activation point.
10. A method for cooling a component, comprising:
- activating a fluid, inside a first vapor chamber in a heat sink mounted on the component, at a first temperature;
- activating a fluid, inside a second vapor chamber in the heat sink mounted on the component, at a second temperature, wherein the first temperature is different than the second temperature.
11. The method for cooling a component of claim 10, wherein the fluid inside the first vapor chamber is a different fluid than the fluid inside the second vapor chamber.
12. The method for cooling a component of claim 10, wherein a volume of the first vapor chamber is larger than a volume of the second vapor chamber.
13. The method for cooling a component of claim 10, wherein the first vapor chamber and the second vapor chamber are heat pipes.
14. The method for cooling a component of claim 10, wherein the second vapor chamber is broken into at least two parts.
15. The method for cooling a component of claim 10, further comprising:
- activating a fluid inside a third vapor chamber in the heat sink mounted on the component at a third temperature, wherein the third temperature is different than the first or second temperature.
Type: Application
Filed: Jan 26, 2010
Publication Date: Jan 19, 2012
Applicant:
Inventors: John P Franz (Houston, TX), Sarah Nicole Anthony (Houston, TX), Joseph R. Allen (Houston, TX)
Application Number: 13/258,994
International Classification: F28D 15/04 (20060101);