Thermal Management of Avionic Packages Using Micro-blower

Abstract

Thermal management of avionic packages mostly involves bringing downconduction and radiation resistance between the components and the sink. Fans and blowers are not recommended because of the acoustic noise generated and the EMI/EMC disturbance created by them. In this paper, an attempt has been made to find the utility of micro-blower for local cooling of high-power components. The micro-blower is operated by piezoelectric vibrators whose frequency is beyond 20 kHz. These blowers are compact and draw very less power. Moreover, no acoustic noise and EMI/EMC disturbances are encountered. Experimental study has been carried out to find the velocity of air flow with respect to distance from the exit for different input power. To assess the cooling effect of micro-blower on components, components are simulated with patch heater and the case temperature is found for packages with and without blowers, respectively. To find the effect of orientation of components in an electronic package (generally not known), measurements have been carried out for different component orientation. Based on the experiment, the maximum temperature drop and minimum temperature drop were found to be 10 °C and 8.6 °C, respectively. This work facilitates the use of micro-blower for the local cooling of electronic components for avionic applications.