Development of High Performance Cooling Modules in Notebook PC's

The CPU power consumption in Notebook PCs is increasing every year. Video chips and HDDs are also continually using larger power for higher performance. In addition, since miniaturization is desired, the mounting of components is becoming more and more dense. Accordingly, the cooling mechanisms are increasingly important. The cooling modules have to dissipate larger amounts of heat in the same environmental conditions. Therefore, high capacity cooling capabilities is needed, while low costs and high reliability must be retained. Available cooling methods include air or water cooling systems and the heat conduction method. The air cooling system is to transmit heat by a cooling fan often using a heat pipe. The water cooling one employs the water to carry heat to the back of the display, which offers a comparatively large cooling area. The heat conduction method is to transfer the heat by thermal conduction to the case. This article describes the development of new and comparatively efficient cooling devices offering low cost and high reliability for air cooling system. As one of the development techniques, the heat resistance and performance are measured for various parts and layouts. Each cooling system is evaluated in the same measurement environment. With regards to the fans, an optimal shape of the fan blades to maximize air flow is found by using CFD simulation, and prototypes were built and tested.