After receiving the AC-DC power supply we plan to put on board our drone our group is concerned that it may be too heavy with the heat sink attached. The aluminium heat sink is a large block that weights roughly 1.5 lbs. If we could remove this without having the power supply overheat that would save a considerable amount of weight and improve the performance of the drone.
After discussing this with Professor Lin, we decided to do some calculations as to whether the forced convection over the surface of the board would provide enough cooling. Assuming the power lost from converting to DC power was dissipated we were able to calculate the temperature the sink would be at with the following conditions:
Conditions:
Airflow Velocity= 2m/s
Temperature of Air = 300 °K
Efficiency of Power Supply = 82.5%
Dimensions of Heatsink = .16 x 0.1 m
After discussing this with Professor Lin, we decided to do some calculations as to whether the forced convection over the surface of the board would provide enough cooling. Assuming the power lost from converting to DC power was dissipated we were able to calculate the temperature the sink would be at with the following conditions:
Conditions:
Airflow Velocity= 2m/s
Temperature of Air = 300 °K
Efficiency of Power Supply = 82.5%
Dimensions of Heatsink = .16 x 0.1 m
Results from Calculations:
Heat from power generation = 175 W
Surface temp = 314.5 °K
These calculations show the temperature of the power supply would rise to 314.5 °K. The power supply is rated up to 412 °K which validates our intuition that the power supply can operate safely without the heatsink. Further testing will be done this in April!
Heat from power generation = 175 W
Surface temp = 314.5 °K
These calculations show the temperature of the power supply would rise to 314.5 °K. The power supply is rated up to 412 °K which validates our intuition that the power supply can operate safely without the heatsink. Further testing will be done this in April!