Heat Sink Project
Sourced a heat sink and designed a fan bracket to build a thermal management assembly for a DC/DC converter test rig.
What?
The test rig runs 4 high-power resistors generating 500W of heat, requiring thermal management to operate safely
Data from the test rig would inform whether implementing a DC/DC converter on the '26 car was possible
How?
Calculated maximum allowable thermal resistance using R = ΔT/Q with a FOS of 1.25, and then cross-referenced datasheet values to select an appropriate off-the-shelf heat sink
Natural convection alone was insufficient, so a fan bracket was designed to mount an existing team fan upright facing the heat sink. It was then 3D printed
Milled mounting holes into the heat sink to attach the resistors
Results?
Assembled a functional thermal management solution for the DC/DC converter test rig
Enables further testing to evaluate DC/DC converter implementation on the '26 UWFE vehicle
If implemented, would allow the team to switch from the current 46Ah LV battery to a smaller 15Ah one
I'm currently designing the enclosure for that project, check it out here!
picture of final setup will be here after testing has been done…
