Heat sinks and other heat removal applications are among the last areas where thermoplastics inherent thermal insulators have yet to replace metals.
Thermally conductive plastic heat sink.
After all thermally conductive plastics don t come cheap.
Thermally conductive plastics from ensinger come into their own in applications where metals have distinct drawbacks.
Therma tech thermally conductive formulations are engineered to combine the heat transfer dissipation and cooling capabilities of metals with the design freedom weight reduction and cost advantages of thermoplastics.
Their free formability allows heat sink structures to be configured to provide precisely the required heat distribution.
Our first commercial product the ice9 thermally conductive filament is the world s highest thermal conductivity 3d printing plastic and can conduct heat 50x higher than traditional plastics.
Thermally conductive plastic for led heat sinks reduces lighting costs june 4 2014 electronics cooling heat sinks led lighting plastics bayer material science has announced makrolon polycarbonate as the latest addition to its family of heat resistant plastics designed specifically for led heat sink applications.
Why bother you might ask.
And analysis showed that using a metal heat sink with a higher thermal conductivity would have only a minor impact on temperatures and heat management but would have a major influence on cost.
But today s small hot electronics can benefit from new ways to keep cool like using thermally conductive plastics.
Thermal management once meant a few well placed fans vents and aluminum heat sinks.
With a typical thermal in plane conductivity of 20 0w mk thermally conductive thermoplastics improve cooling and reduce temperatures at the heat source.
Modifying plastics to improve their thermal conductivity is a burgeoning area of opportunity for a handful of compounders.
Until fairly recently that is.
Dissipate heat reduce weight.
Oems in industries such as electrical electronics automotive lighting medical devices and industrial machinery have been hot for thermally conductive thermoplastics for several years now as they seek new solutions for applications that include heat sinks and other heat removal devices led enclosures and electric battery housings.
This allows for 3d printing of new heat transfer products for electronics thermal management heat exchangers mold tooling and many other industries.