Bonded Fin

When things get too hot or the box gets too small, bonded fins increase the heat sink surface area without increasing volume, and reduce thermal resistance by 1/2 to 2/3. Bonded fins provide cooling in forced convection for powers above 100 W. Fins, fabricated from sheet metal or through extrusion, are bonded to the extruded base either with epoxy or through a solder/braze process. To accomplish maximum cooling in limited space we offer two varieties of enhanced fins – augmented fins and folded fins.

Folded fins, fabricated from one continuous sheet of metal, offer maximum cooling surface in minimum volume. Folding the fins into a fixed height “square wave” provides a large surface area in a confined space. These fins are attached to the heat sink base with epoxy, solder, or braze.

All of our bonded fin heat sinks are available in copper as well as aluminum. Copper parts give an increase in conductivity but will weigh three times as much as the aluminum equivalent. These parts must be made entirely of copper and must be brazed, resulting in a cost increase typically three times that of an equivalent aluminum heat sink.

Most bonded fin heat sinks are custom designed or, at the least, customized for specific applications. By mixing and matching, we add the enabling technology to provide you with the best technical and cost solution for your particular problem.