Why are heat sinks made of aluminum instead of copper?

Aluminum is Popular for a Reason, But Copper Has Its Place They can be used in instances where higher heat conductivity outweighs the available weight savings. Also, significant cost savings can be had by producing heatsinks through aluminum extrusion. Most heatsinks are produced this way.

Why is aluminum used as a heat sink?

Aluminum is lightweight easy to manufacture and cost effective, making it an ideal choice for most heat sinks. Its ability to move heat, thermal conductivity, is about half of copper. This limits the distance heat can be moved, conducted, away from the heat source in the base of a heat sink.

Is copper or aluminum better for a heatsink?

Winner: Copper Heatsink In fact, it is at least 40\% more conductive than aluminum. This doesn’t mean that all copper heatsinks are 60\% more effective than the aluminum ones. The other materials that go into the heatsink (such as plastic) will have an impact on the conductivity as well.

Why is aluminum used in computers?

Aluminum is the metal used to create heat sinks for your computer. A heat sink is designed to capture all of the heat present in the computer while working to prevent it from hitting other key components.

Is aluminum a good heat conductor?

Aluminum is an excellent heat and electricity conductor and in relation to its weight is almost twice as good a conductor as copper. This has made aluminum the first choice for major power transmission lines.

Why is aluminium used in cooling?

Aluminum plates are both the lowest-performing and the cheapest solution for thermal management. Due to their lower conductivity, they are generally suited for low-power systems. When analysis show that the peak temperature or mass is too high for a simple aluminum plate, then Spot Cooling Heat Pipes, HiK™ Plates.

Are heat sinks made of aluminum?

Forged heat sinks are made by compressing aluminum or copper and have many applications. Heat sinks can be cold forged or hot forged. These offer medium performance and can be made at low cost for high volumes.

Which aluminium is used for heat sink?

The most common heat sink materials are aluminium alloys in the 6000-series, primarily the 6060, 6061 and 6063 alloys. The thermal conductivity values of these alloys are solid.

What material is the best heat sink?

Aluminum is the most common material for heat sinks. In particular, extruded aluminum heat sinks fit the needs of most projects. The metal is lightweight and has relatively good thermal conductivity.

Aluminum is used for heat sinks because of its good thermal conductivity and its relatively low cost and ease of forming. As a side not Aluminum is highly reactive as an element on the periodic table but in practice it behaves as a stable metal due to a protective layer Aluminum oxide that forms over its surface as soon as it is exposed to oxygen.

What is the best type of heat sink material?

Copper has even better thermal conductivity than aluminum. It’s drawbacks, though, are weight and cost. The metal is sometimes used where the importance of thermal conductivity outweighs weight savings. When discussing the different types of heat sinks, we generally classify them based on their manufacturing process.

Should you use aluminum or copper for heatsinks?

In them, you can see the three main factors that might influence the decision to use aluminum over copper for heatsinks. As you can see in this table, copper is more conductive than aluminum. In fact, aluminum only has 60\% of the thermal conductivity that copper does. That’s one point for copper.

What is the thermal conductivity of aluminum compared to copper?

Aluminum vs. Copper: Heat Conductivity Metal Thermal Conductivity [BTU/ (hr·ft⋅°F)] Aluminum 136 Copper 231