Multi-needle-ring type ionic wind generator for thermal management

Ionic wind is an attractive technique for generating air flow for thermal management of electronic components. This is a power-efficient, noiseless, and vibration-free air flow generation system that has the potential to replace traditional fan-based air-cooling systems. Therefore, a multi-needle to ring type ionic wind generator is designed. Both experimental and simulation study has been carried out to design the ionic wind based thermal management system. The effect of shape of ground electrode and inter needle distance on flow characteristics is investigated. To confirm its ability to cool the heated plate that represents common electronic components, an ionic wind generator prototype was built and experimentally tested. Tapered ground electrode outperforms the straight ring electrode due to increased contribution of axial component of coulomb force. At the applied potential of 9 kV, the designed multi-needle to ring type ionic wind generator can keep the heated plate below 20°C from the maximum allowable limit (85°C). This demonstrates the capability of a multi needle ionic wind generator for thermal management of electronic components. The designed system offers nearly two folds enhancement in the heat transfer performance compared to natural convection cooling.