Free Convection Heat Transfer from Vertical Fin-Arrays

A simple but relatively accurate, approximate technique is presented for analyzing the heat transfer due to natural convection and radiation from parallel-fin heat sinks. This technique accounts for a nonuniform base plate temperature. The finned surfaces and the base plate have been considered to be vertical U-shaped channels and a relationship for the NusseJt number has been used which has a suitable form for both very long and very short fins. The accuracy of the technique has been demonstrated by a testing program on a representative sample of heat sinks.