38 IRE TRANSACTIONS ON COMPONENT PARTS September

Design and Performance of Air-Cooled Chassis for

Electronic Equipment*
M. MARKt AND M. STEPHENSONS

Although this article deals with a subject that is not directly related to electronic behavior
of components, it is related to good component design. It has been included because it contains
the type of information that components engineers may well take into consideration when
evaluating the usefulness and application of nonpassive components.
-The Editor.

Summary-A method of cooling certain types of electronic The cold plate as a cooling system for electronic equip-
equipment incorporates in the chassis a simple plate-&r heat
exchanger, sometimes called a cold plate or cooled chassis. To ment integrates well with such special packaging require-
determine which internal configuration gives most efficient heat ments as hermetic sealing, pressurization, and contami-
transfer, equations for cold plates are developed, and ti density, nation prevention where impurities exist in. the coolant.
height, and thickness are varied. The effect on required power,
coolant flow rate, and pressure drop is noted, and some conclusions In addition, temperature, pressure-drop, and mass-flow
are drawn as to optimum design. data can be estimated with satisfactory accuracy in
advance of detailed electronic information.2’3
INTRODUCTION
. FCENT developments emphasize the problem of
heat transfer in electronic equipment. Sub-
miniaturization of parts and compact design of
packages result in high heat dissipations per unit volume.
Close stacking of units in limited space reduces free con-
vection; if the equipment is to be airborne, high-altitude
operation lowers it even more. Maintaining component
temperatures consistent with required performance and
reliability calls for means of heat transfer other than
natural convection. Forced-convection methods are at
present most widely employed.
Conservation of the coolant flow rate or coolant flow
power needed to maintain proper component temperatures
is important. This is true especially in high-speed high-
altitude airborne equipment, where refrigerated engine Fig. I-Cooled chassis dimensions.
bleed air may be used as a coolant and the penalty placed
on the aircraft by use of this coolant must be minimized. The efficiency of the cold plate as a heat exchanger can
One of the solutions to the problem of cooling certain be expressed in terms of the power required for cooling.
, ‘types of high heat-dissipating electronic equipment is the An efficient cold plate is one that requires little flow
modification of the equipment chassis to incorporate a horsepower to cool the equipment mounted on it. If the
simple plate-fin type heat exchanger. The resulting chassis available pressure drop is fixed, an efficient plate mini-
is called a “cold plate” or ‘(cooled chassis.“’ It is shown mizes the coolant flow needed, utilizing the full pressure
schematically in Fig. 1. The electronic components are drop available.
mounted through good heat-conducting paths to both The internal configuration of the plate-fin type of cold
top and bottom plates, and the coolant flows between the plate can be varied, and it is of value to know which
plates, physically separated from the components. configuration gives most efficient performance. For this
purpose design equations for cold plates were developed
* Manuscript received by the PGCP, December 29, 1955; revised
manuscript received May 12, 1956.
t Consulting Engineer, Cambridge, Mass. 2 G. Mathis, “Experiments and design data for air-cooled elec.-
$ Wayland Lab., Raytheon hlfg. Co., Wayland, Mass. tronic chassis,” Proc. Conf. on Cooling of Airborne Electronic
1 L. Katz, “The design of properly cooled electronic equipment for Equipment, Ohio State Univ., Columbus, Ohio, 1952, p. 83.
operation at high altitudes,: Proc. of Conf. on Cooling of Airborne 3 G. Mathis,. “Air-cooled chassis design and applications,” Proc.
~le$omc Equipment, Ohro State Univ., Columbus, Ohro, 1952, Conf. on Coolmg of Airborne Electronic Equipment, Ohio State
. * Univ., Columbus, Ohio, 1953.
0
1956 Mark and Stephenson: Design and Performance of Air-Cooled Chassis 39

and programmed for machine computation. Calculations A heat transfer coefficient, h, between a surface and a
were made varying certain physical parameters such as fluid, applicable to a cold plate, can be defined by
number of fins, fin thickness, and fin height. The effect dQ = hdS AT (9)
on required power, coolant flow rate, and pressure drop
was noted. This paper presents some general results of where dQ is an infinitesmal amount of heat per unit time
such a study. being transferred from a surface of area dS, and AT is
,. the temperature difference between the surface dS and
GEOMETRY the coolant bounded by dS. Heat-transfer correlations
The pertinent variables are the number of flow passages for an average h applicable to a rectangular duct are
N, the passage width b, the fin thickness t, the fin height known in terms of the Nusselt numhk; Nu, the Reynolds
H, the plate length L, the plate width B, and the plate number Re, and the Prandtl number Pr. ,For turbulent
height I. It can be observed that the flow passage for the flow4 the correlation can be expressed as,
coolant is a rectangular duct. Variations, of this are Nu = .019(Re)‘8(Pr).33. (10)
possible, as, for example, circular cross sections, or
serrated fins. Only smooth rectangular passages will be For laminar flow5 the round tube rather than the flat-plate
considered here as this has been most commonly used for correlation is used, to be conservative:
cold plate applications. 4wc GO
Nu = 3.66 + 0.05 p (11)
With. the notation of Fig. 1, the total flow area A normal 7&L
to the direction of flow (i.e.,, total free-flow area) is given by
= 3.66 + O.O5(Re)(Pr)($)(-$)
A = NbIf. (1)
The total heat transfer surface area S is (assuming 100 = 3.66 + O.O5(Re)(Pr)(-$). (13)
per cent fin efficiency)
In (lo)-(13),
S = BNL(H + b). (2)
Nu = hD, (14)
The equivalent diameter D, for a single passage is defined k
by ,. ’
D e =4” (3)
P and k is the thermal conductivity of the coolant, c, its
where a is the free-flow area for one passage (bH), and P specific heat.
is the wetted perimeter of the passage (2H + 2b). In For cold plate design, the heat transfer conditions can
terms of Fig. 1 this becomes usually be approximated by a uniform heat input surface.
Heat dissipating electronic components are placed over
4bH 2bH the entire mounting area; moreover, the heat is spread out
De = 2(H + b) = -.
H-+ b (4)
by the nonfinned top and bottom thicknesses, (I - H)/2
(see Fig. l), of the high thermal conductivity metal,
HEAT TRANSFER RELATIONSHIPS
generally aluminum or magnesium, that forms the cold
A dimensionless parameter important in heat transfer plate. The h used in (9) can. be considered an average
and fluid mechanics is the Reynolds number. This can be value applicable over the entire surface.
written For the conditions described, AT does not vary along
. the passage. Consequently, the coolant temperature
Re = GoDeG (5)
u varies linearly with length along the passage and lies
parallel to the cold plate temperature curve. This has
where p is the viscosity of the coolant, and G is the mass been confirmed by experiment as a good first approxi-
velocity. G is defined by mation, especially in the region of the cold plate unaffected
by lateral conduction to the entrance and exit coolant
Gzf, 03 headers. Fig. 2 shows a typical cold plate temperature
variation.
w being the coolant rate of flow for one passage. For the If T, is the maximum cold plate temperature and T,
cold plate, with uniformly distributed flow, the exit coolant temperature (Fig. 2), (9) can be written
W NW W in integrated form as
-c-c- (7)
a Na A Q = hS(T, - T,) (16)
where W is the total coolant rate of flow. Substituting 4 W. M. Kays and A. L. London, “Convective heat transfer and
(11, (4), (6), and (7), into (51, flow-friction behavior of small cylindrical tubes-circular and rec-
tangular cross sections,” Trans. ASI1fE1 vol. 74, p. 1179; October,
2WG, 1952.
Re = O-3) 6R. H. Norris and D. D. Streid, “Laminar-flow heat transfer
/NH + b) * coefficients for ducts,” Trans. ASME, vol. 62, p. 525; August, 1940.
 IRE TRANSACTIONS ON COMPONENT PART8 September

Tc S can be expressed in terms of the geometry of the flow

passages through (2), and h in terms of geometry, coolant
flow rate, and coolant physical properties through (10) or
(13) [depending on the flow regime which is determined
by (8) for the Reynolds number]. Eq. (21) then gives the
flow rate required as a function of the geometry of the
passages, the properties of the coolant,‘and the amount of
cooling required.

0
PRESSURE-DROP RELATIONSHIPS
L
LENGTH ALONG PASSAGE IN COLD PLATE The expression for the pressure drop associated with
Fig. 2-Chassis and coolant temperature variation along passage. the coolant flow through the cold plate is’

where Q is the total rate of heat transfer. An energy Ap = z {w. + I - g’) + 2(; - 1)
equation is also applicable: 1

Q = GOWc,(T, - .T,). +j.$$+& K,) ; + K, (23)

(17) m
Combining (1G) and (17), T, can be eliminated: where K, and K, are the entrance and exit loss coefficients,
(Tis the flow-area contraction ratio, p is the coolant density,
T, - T, = and K, is an additional 1oss”associated with the cold-plate
headers. The subscripts 1 and 2 refer to the entrance and
or exit condition, respectively, the subscript m referring to
the average condition between entrance and exit. The
factor 692 accounts for the units employed.
The friction factor f in (23) is similar to h in that its
The heat dissipated, Q, is fixed by the dissipation of the value depends on the value of the Reynolds number. For
electronic components mounted on the cold plate, plus turbulent flow’
or minus any stray heat gain or loss. T, is given by the
allowable temperature of the most temperature-critical (24)
component near the exit end of the package and the
temperature drop through the particular conductive For laminar flow4
path. (The allowable component temperature minus the
temperature drop through the conductive path equals f = g + 0.608’~ (25)
the plate temperature T,.) T, is generally determined by
the temperature of the available coolant. These quantities For the case where the density change between entrance
can be used to define a new parameter A whose reciprocal and exit of the cold plate is negligible, (23) can be re-
represents the amount of cooling required and whose written
value for any particular electronic package is constant:
= K,+f++K.+K, ..a. (26)
n = Tc - T, Ap = 2gp e >
Q ’ The constants in (26) can be grouped together, defining
Substituting (20) in (19), a new constant C
C = K, + K. + K,..... (27)
&+&=A. (21)
P Substituting C into (26)
Eq. (21) represents the basic cooling equation for a cold
plate. In actual design (21) is written (28)
1 1
Values of K, and K, can be estimated from data on
GOWc, +syz=A
abrupt contractions and expansions. A value for K, can
where E is an empirical factor introduced to take account be approximated based on the amount of free flow area
of variations from the basic assumptions, such as non- in the headers and the number of right-angle turns,
uniform heat distribution and nonlinearity of plate or
coolant temperature, and to provide a factor of engineering 8 A. L. London, “Air-coolers for high power vacuum tubes,”
safety. However, the ideal case of E = 1.0 will be con- IRE TRANS., vol. ED-l, pp. Q-26; April, 1954.
7 M. Jacob, “Heat Transfer,” John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New
sidered here. York, N. Y., vol. 1; 1949.
2956 Mark and Stephenson: Design and Performance of Air-Cooled Chassis 41

expansions, and contractions required of the flow in the W”

headers. The total of these, C, may be of the order of
magnitude of 5; however, 10 is a more conservative
estimate recommended in the early design stages when
header configurations are not definite. In this study
(28) with a value of C = 10 .was used; consequently
Ap = %(f g-+ IO)....
e 0.316
Eq. (29) can also be written
Since the pressure drop is a function of the flow rate, the
passage geometry, and the coolant properties, and since
the flow rate is a function of the last two of these plus the
amount of cooling required, it follows that the pressure
drop is a function of the passage geometry, the coolant
properties, and the amount of cooling required.
FORMULATION FOR MACHINE COMPUTATION
The quantities B, L, and I are generally set by electronic
packaging considerations, such as available space, required
component area, and desired structural strength. N, b, t,
and H, however, may be given any values realistic from
a fabrication point of view, and it is important to know
how variation of each of these parameters affects the
performance of the system.
N, t, and H can be chosen as the independent variables,
as B is given and N, t, 6, B are related by
AP = 1.26 x 1W5 Hz,B _ (N + l)tlz
. fL[HN + B - W + l)tl + 1o . . . (36)
. i 2H[B - (N + l)t] >
The Friction Factor
Turbulent flow:
(29)
f = Re0.25”‘. (37)
Laminar flow:
(30)
64 2H[B - (N + l)tl
f = Re + o.608 [HN + B - (N + l)t]L’ . * *(38)
In all of these equations W is in pounds per minute, Ap
is in inches of water, A is in degrees Fahrenheit-hour
per Btu, and t, H, B, and L are in feet.
For this study, B was taken as 1 foot, L as 13 feet; two
values for A were chosen, A = 0.030 and A = 0.070, and
the problem programmed for a digital computer. For
each N, t, H triplet considered, the machine first solved
the cooling equation for W, and then calculated Re, Ap,
and the product WLpp which is proportional to the power
required for cooling. This was done twice, once for the
turbulent and once for the laminar-flow equations. A
value for Re of 2500 was chosen as being in the transition
region. Results obtained using the tubulent equations
were plotted only when the resulting Re was greater than
2500, the laminar equations for Re less than 2500.

(1 + N)t + (N)b = Be... (31) RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Air is a commonly used coolant in cold-plate work; The results of the computations obtained to date can
therefore air at an average pressure and temperature of be presented in the form of curves of W, Ap, and WAp vs
14.7 psia and 150 F was the coolant chosen for this study. N, t, and H. Typical curves are shown in Figs. 3 through
.This defines actual values for p, c,, p, k, and Pr. 11. A preliminary examination of these curves establishes
Making the proper substitutions, with appropriate certain qualitative conclusions with respect to N, t, and
conversion factors to account for units, the following H and the flow power required to do the cooling. If the
working equations can be obtained. objective is to perform the cooling function with the ’
The cooling equation: minimum power, the conclusions depend on whether an
available pressure drop is specified. If the available
1+ HP - (N + 114 . .(32)
14.4W 0.0170NuLCHN
\ + B - (N
\ +. 11t1”
I, = ‘-*
The Nusselt Number
Turbulent flow :

Nu .= 0.0169Re0”. . . .
LAMINAR FLOW
Laminar flow:

Nu = 3.66 + 54&..

The Reynolds Number

‘.‘. (35) ii_ 100

> 150
N, NUMBER
200
OF FLOW
250
PASSAGES
300 350 1 0

The pressure drop: Fig. 3-k vs N.

 42 IRE TRANSACTIONS ON COMPONENT PARTS September
120
H =.O 1670 FT N= 156 PASSAGES
N= t =.00167 FT
A=.030 HR-‘F/ BTU
100
I- I

z
s
\3
Y TURBULENT FLOW

LAMINAR FLOW

OO 20 40 60 140 160 140 200

10~t,FI~“THIC~~Ess,‘:~~lO~ H, FIN HEIGHT, FT

Fig. 4-W vs t. Fig. 8-Ap vs H.

250
6
N = 150 PASSAGES
t =.00167 FT
/I A=.030HR-‘F/BTU

LAMINAR FLOW
I

OO 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400

sb0 .Oi4 .Ob ,012 .0!6 020 014 .O?B ,032 ,I6 .O!, N, NUMBER OF FLOW PASSAGES
H, FIN HEIGHT, FT
Fig. 9--WAp vs N.
Fig. 5-W vs H. 250

H=.0167FT
t =.0050FT
A-.03OHR-‘F/BTU 200
100
TURBULENT FLOW

150

0
2
100
0 H-.0167 FT
z40 N=SOPASSAGES
A=.O30HR-‘F/BTU
50 -
.’

0 OO . 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 II30 200

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
‘N,NUMBER OF FLOW PASSAGES 104t, FIN THICKNESS, FTX104

Fig. 6-Ap vs N.
Fig. lo-WAp vs t.
120 N= 150 PASSAGES
H=.01670 FT t =.00167 FT
N= SO PASSAGES A=.030HR-°F/BTU
200

TURBULENT--/
rLAMINAR FLOW
FLOW
50 \ \ /

I I I I ‘I I I I I I 0
OO 20 40 60 60 100 120 140 160 160 200 000 ,004 ,006 ,012 ,016 ,020 ,024 ,028 032 036 ,040
I04t.FIN THICKNESS FTXIO’ H,FIN HEIGHT, FT
Fig. $-Ap vs t. Fig. 11-WAp vs H.
1956 Mark and Stephenson: Design and Performance of Air-Cooled Chassis
pressure drop is fixed, this entire drop must be used in
computing flow power, as any pressure drop not used in
the equipment will be wasted in an orifice or its equivalent.
Reduction in power can then be accomplished only by
reducing coolant flow. Moreover, under these conditions,
using any less than the pressure drop available is inefficient,
since the difference could be used in the equipment to
increase the hS factor.
Consider the case where only the number of flow
passages in the cold plate, N, can be varied, all other
parameters being fixed including an available pressure
drop. Then Fig. 3 indicates the plate with the largest
number of passages, within the pressure-drop limitation,
will use the least coolant mass flow W or least power for
cooling; in other words W monotonically decreases with
increasing N. However, if no available pressure drop is
given, then there exists an optimum number of passages
where the power expended for cooling will be minimized
(see Fig. 9), the function WAp no longer being a monotone.
From Fig. 6 it can be seen that the pressure drop Ap
behaves in a manner similar to WAp when only N is the
variable.
When the fin thickness t is the only variable, and the
available pressure drop is specified, the plate with the
largest value for t, not exceeding the pressure drop, will
use the least W and therefore the least power (see Fig. 4).
For the case where the available pressure drop is not
specified, the plate with the lowest value for t will use the
least power to do the cooling (Fig. 10). In general W and
WAp are monotonic functions of t over the range of vari-
ables studied. Fig. 7 shows the pressure drop Ap also to be
monotonic with respect to t, increasing with t.
Where the fin height H is the only variable, the flow
regime becomes a factor. For N and t this was not the
case, the conclusions being the same for either laminar or
turbulent flow within the cold plate. When available
pressure drop is specified and the flow within the chassis
is turbulent, H should be as small as possible, compatible
with this pressure drop, to reduce the cooling power; if
the flow is laminar H should be as large as possible (see
Fig. 5). For the condition where pressure drop is not
specified, H should be made large to reduce the power
required for cooling regardless of whether the flow is
laminar or turbulent within the plate (see Fig. 11). Here
again WAp is in general monotonic with respect to H
over the range investigated. The pressure drop is seen to
decrease with increasing H (Fig. 8) regardless of the
flow regime.
The qualitative statements made in the preceding
paragraphs apply where all the variables are fixed but one.
In general N, t, and H are not fixed; for a specific amount
of cooling A the combination of particular values for N,
t and H requiring the minimum power expended in cooling
can be found by computing and studying curves, similar
to those presented here. However, from observing a
number of curves it can be seen that when the available
pressure drop is fixed, which is often the case, power is a
43
stronger function of N than of t or H. Consequently
consider a possible case where pressure drop is limited
and a choice has to be made between a large N and small
t as opposed to a smal1.N and large t; the combination of
large N and small t is to be preferred. In general the value
chosen for H does not interfere with the value of N and
therefore no compromise need be made between H and N.
Another interesting point apparent from the curves is
that in some cases, a laminar-flow plate is superior to a
turbulent-flow plate in requiring a lower W or WAp to do
the cooling.
In time more cases will be computed and studied. It
may then be possible to develop design charts for cold
plates where one need only know the amount of cooling
required and the space limitations, and the optimum
values for N, t, and H can be found without resorting’to
any computation. Meanwhile, however, the qualitative
conclusions and trends discussed here should be helpful
in the design of more efficient heat exchangers for cooling
electronic packages.
LIST OF SYMBOLS
The following terms are used in the paper:
A = total free-flow area in cold plate, square feet.
B = width of cold plate, feet.
b = width of passage, feet.
C = K, + K, + K,, dimensionless.
CP = specific heat of coolant at constant pressure,
Btu/lb deg F.
D, = equivalent diameter, feet.
E= empirical factor, dimensionless.
f = friction factor, dimensionless.
G = coolant mass velocity, lb/min square feet.
9 = acceleration due to gravity, ft/hr2.
H= fin height, feet.
h = heat-transfer coefficient, Btu/hr square feet
deg F.
I = total cold plate height, feet.
K,,K,,K, = loss coefficients, dimensionless.
k = thermal conductivity of coolant, Btu/hr feet
deg F.
L = length of cold plate, feet.
N = number of flow passages in cold plate,
dimensionless.
Nu= Nusselt number = hD,/lc, dimensionless.
Pr = Prandtl number = c,w/Jc, dimensionless.
Ap = total pressure drop, inches of water.
Q = rate of heat transfer to coolant, Btu/hr.
ne = Reynolds number = 6OGDe/p, dimensionless.
S = total heat-transfer area of passages, square
feet.
 44 IRE TRANSACTIONS’ON COMPONENT PARTS September
T, = maximum cold plate temperature, deg F. W = coolant rate of flow, lb/mm.
T, = coolant temperature, inlet to cold plate, W = coolant rate of flow per passage, lb/min.
deg F. A = (T, - T,)/Q, hr deg F/Btu.
T, = coolant temperature,’ exit from cold plate, P = viscosity of coolant, lb/ft hr.
deg F. Pl = coolant density at inlet to cold plate, pcf.
AT temperature difference between cold-plate sur- PZ = coolant density at exit from cold plate, pcf.
face and cbolant, deg F. Pm = average coolant density in cold plate, pcf.
t = fin thickness, feet. (r = flow-area contraction ratio, dimensionless.

A Study of the Neon Bulb as a ’

Nonlinear Circuit Hekent*
CHARLES E. HENDRIXt

Summary-The ordinary NE-2 neon bulb possessestwo-valued
properties which make it valuable for use in logical gate circuits
such as are used in digital computers. The cost of the NE-2 is of
the order of $0.05 compared to an average unit cost of $1.00 for
germanium- diodes. In the logical gate application, circuit per-
formance is relatively insensitive to parameter variations among
germanium diodes, in t,he configurations shown in Fig.
1. It is assumed that the input voltages can take only two
values, “high” corresponding to binary “1,” and “low”
corresponding to binary “0.” It is common practice to
clamp all signal voltages to these values.

+
bulbs. Both “or” and “and” gates, and combinations thereof can
be built, and operation up to 30 kc easily obtained.
Statistical studies of bulbs point out that the aging effects to
be expected are a rise in voltage drop ‘across the bulb and a re-
duction in the variability among bulbs. The change appears rather
suddenly, after about 1000 milliampere-hours of operation. Equiv-
alent circuits are presented, and simple circuit design techniques
have been worked out.
“c
INTRODUCTION \

HE COMMON neon glow-discharge bulb has been

used in the electronic art for some time, serving
F“”!. “b
as a relaxation oscillator, visual indicator, voltage
“OH” GATE “AND’” GATE
regulator, and coupling element in directly-coupled
V,lS WGH If v, V,lS HIGH ONLY IF
amplifiers. In spite of this relatively wide use as a circuit OR “,ARE HIGH V. AND S&ARE HlGH
element, however, very little can be found in the literature
regarding neon bulb characteristics; and such uses as the Fig. l-Typical diode gate circuits.
bulb has been put to have been largely cut and dry, with
hardly so much as a “rule of thumb” to guide design. At present, the lowest-priced germanium diodes cost
Part of the purpose of this paper is to clarify and enumerate approximately $0.80 each; and other varieties cost up to
the characteristics to be expected in the bulbs as an aid to $2.50 each. In a digital computer where several thousands
further applications. of these diodes are used, the component cost can become
One such application, which has been suggested by considerable. Now the two-valued, “on-off” character-,
. Purcell,’ is believed to be one of the most important of istic of the neon bulb suggests that it might be a useful
any yet proposed. This application is the use of neon device in digital computer circuitry; and indeed experi-
.bulbs in logical “and” and ‘(or” gates, such as are used ments described later in this paper indicate that this is
in great numbers in modern digital computers. -In the so. From the economic point of view, this is very encourag-
past, such gates have most often been composed of ing, for the unit cost of the NE-2 neon bulb is less than.
$0.05.
* Manuscript received by the PGCP, January 7, 1956. One of the objections which has been raised to the mass
t U. S. Naval Ordnance Test Station, China Lake, Calif.
r R. B. Purcell, private communication. use of neon bulbs is the “large variability” in firing;