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Wriggling Heat Sinks

Posted by chrisd on from the wow-that-is-just-so-cool dept.

YourHero writes "Purdue researchers have come up with a new way to cool chips, in about 2 years. Just build a bunch of little piezoelectric fans (the waving kind, not the spinning kind). Since they don't spin, no bearings, less self-generated heat. Since they don't have magnets, no electromagnetic noise problems. And, of course, super-efficient. A press release and abstract for your reading pleasure. Formal presentation at THERMES 2002 Jan 15th."

7 of 195 comments (clear)

  1. Hotter than the SUN?! by EvilBuu · · Score: 2, Interesting

    "The concentrated circuits in a semiconductor computer chip can generate more heat per square centimeter of chip area than an area of equal size on the sun's surface."

    Is this true? If so I have so much more respect for my heatsink....

    --

    Green-voting, republican-registered, socialist-libertarian.
  2. Re:awe come on... by EvilBuu · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Well, you can still have your 65dB Swiftech heatsink/fan, and your multitude of 80mm case fans and maybe a water pump for your overclocked GeForce3, but imagine if they put these on the fins of that heatsink. Not only would the surface area of the sink double or triple or more, but the heatsink would actively cool itself. That would bring your cpu die temp down another few degrees for sure, with barely any more sound, or power.

    --

    Green-voting, republican-registered, socialist-libertarian.
  3. Big fans and ducting is the way to go... by TrouserPenguin · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I'd much rather trust my components to one large, well made fan with some intelligent ducting inside the case to deliver the air flow where its needed. I think this is one area where some of the big system manufacturers still have a big advantage over a typical 'roll your own' case. Small cooling devices are just too fragile and unreliable, and multiple points of failure are unacceptable, especially in server applications IMHO.

  4. Trick questions by freeweed · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Or rather, answers in this case. You commonly hear things like 'this is hotter than the surface of the SUN!!!' like it's some huge temperature. In reality, what is considered the 'surface' of the sun is only a few thousand degress (still pretty hot, but not THAT hot). It's the extreme lower depths, and especially the upper 'atmosphere' of the sun that is hot - in the range of millions of degrees.

    --
    Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
  5. cooling by piezo-electric cilia by xeno · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Ok, I just got this be-yoo-t-ful image in my mind:

    Imagine the piezoelectric fan on a larger scale, not just waving a metal+ceramic blade (single flexible surface area), but creating an undulating sheet about the size of a letter/a4 size piece of paper using stripes of piezoelectric flexion areas that create a wave every 2-3cm. Now combine this with the latest in flexible printed circuitry top and bottom (or 2 layers top and bottom, for the really adventurous). I'd imagine you might also need periodic non-flexible stripes (ends?) for components and connects that can't be made flexible. Then add a lower-power processor and put it into an enclosure only slightly larger than the wave height, such as, say, a laptop computer housing. What do you have?

    You'd get a motherboard that cools itself by cilia-like swimming/undulation movement that pushes air (against the enclosure) across its surface silently.

    You'd get quieter rackmount systems, with 1U or "blade" servers that self-vent. ("Ah, yah need tah balance yer server there, buddy, the blades are outta sync.")

    You get a laptop that you might enjoy putting in your lap. (On second thought, I'm not sure I want to sit next to someone on a plane with a two-stroke laptop...)

    just my $0.02
    -Jon Espenschied

    --
    I think not...(*poof*)
  6. Next step is the return of the Mac Chimney.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Back in the 80s, you could get piezo fans for the Mac Plus' or you could build your own Mac Chimney. It was basically a pyramid that sat on top of the Mac with a 2" square chimney stack that extended from the top of the pyramid for a height of about 18". Supposedly, it provided the necessary draft to pull the heat out of the Mac Plus. For some reason my wife never appreciated the beauty of it sitting ontop of her computer...


    I see no reason why the same technology could not be applied to modern CPUs and computers. It would be energy efficient to say the least..


    On a side note, if you want an interesting geometry problem, try to mathematically design a pyramid out of cardboard for a specific height and base.

  7. Where is the active cooling? by Bob_Robertson · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Fans, fans fans. Might as well use a Tesla Turbine to move ungodly volumes of air with very little noise. No fan blades, no resonance with the heat sink blades to make loud whine or buzz. Just the hiss of moving air over the heat sink blades.

    However, solid state heat transfer has been around for ages. I would love to find an advert for a 12-volt refridgerator for camping that I saw back in the 1970's. It used a pezo film between two heat sinks, one on the inside and one on the outside. Apply the voltage, and heat was moved actively into the outside heat sink, enough to chill your beer and keep the fish fresh on the trip home.

    Put such a film between the chip and a heat sink. Gosh wow, a cool CPU.

    Bob-

    --
    The Ludwig von Mises Institute. The reasoning individuals economics