Mechanical Component Design

Mechanical Component Design:
Heat-Sink
Sometimes there may be lot of heat generated from the board.So there was a need of device which removes the excess heat generated from the board.So, it was decided to have heat sink in our project.
The main requirements for heat sink were:

• It should be light weight.
• It should be shock proof.
• It should not damage the board while removing heat.

Now the question was heat sink should be of which material. Copper and aluminium were the commonly used materials for heat sink. So, comparison of both was done based on performance and it was decided to choose Aluminium alloys 6060 or 6063 because it is medium strength heat treatable alloy & is able to radiate the heat into the air better than copper due to its lower density.

Casing
The board is affected by the surroundings factors like dust, change in temperature etc. which may cause permanent damage to the board. So, it was decided to have a casing for the board which protects it from external factors.
The main requirements for casing were:

• The material used should be rigid
• The material used should be light weight and of low cost
• It should be strong and efficient
• It should have proper heat flow

Plastic and metals are commonly used materials. Plastic is not preferred because of deforming issue. In metals, rust formation is main issue. Aluminium is selected because there is no question of dealing with rust. The casing is built such that it has proper openings for heat dissipation.