Conjugate Heat-Transfer Simulation of Power-Module Heat Sinks
Thermal simulation and heat-sink design · Jun 2026 – Sep 2026
COMSOL analysis of how fin structures, inlet air speed and fin height affect temperature rise and flow resistance.
- Simulation tool
- COMSOL
- Fin structures
- 3
- Comparison cases
- 9
Background
Studied heat transfer and airflow in confined ducts for power modules used in photovoltaic inverters and energy-storage converters.
Methods
- Built a 3D conjugate heat-transfer model of an equivalent copper heat source, aluminum heat sink and air domain, with mesh-sensitivity and heat-balance checks.
- Compared continuous, interrupted and staggered interrupted fins and analyzed heat load, inlet air speed and fin height.
Results
- Compared three fin structures across nine operating cases; continuous straight fins performed best under the tested conditions.
- Increasing fin height reduced maximum temperature rise by 27.3% while increasing pressure drop by 29.1%, quantifying the thermal–flow trade-off.