Abstract: Electronic circuits are used in diverse fields such as aircraft, locomotives, space applications, ships, submarines, communication systems, defense applications, etc. Also, the miniaturization of electronic devices has put a lot of constraints on the heat dissipation pattern of the circuit boards. These electronic circuits generate heat that must be dissipated while keeping chip temperature inside cabinet within safe limits for optimum performance. This is done by heat sink. So prediction and measurement of temperature of heat sink becomes essential. In the present work the heat sink is electrically heated with heating coil attached to it. Power input is calculated by measuring the input voltage and current. Temperature measurement is done using thermocouples for varying heat inputs. Heat transfer co-efficient is calculated from the measured data. This is done for different configurations of the heat sink. The experiments have been conducted by keeping the heat sink in open air. The experimental results for heat sink temperatures and heat transfer coefficients have been compared with analytical results for the heat sink being kept in open air.

Keywords: Heat sink, Natural convection, Steady state temperatures, Heat transfer coefficient.