You’re 100% right, it’s a shit design. Ultimate power rejection to ambient is governed by surface area in contact with fluid… And this design doesn’t have much surface area.
If I were doing this sink, it would be forged aluminum pin fins like from alphanovatech. Good for any direction of forced convection, or any orientation under natural convection.
No need for heat pipes in this application. Maybe just one thru the base of the sink depending on the heat flux density of the controller. But I doubt it.
Source: I design heatsinks for electronics using CFD software
You’re 100% right, it’s a shit design. Ultimate power rejection to ambient is governed by surface area in contact with fluid… And this design doesn’t have much surface area.
If I were doing this sink, it would be forged aluminum pin fins like from alphanovatech. Good for any direction of forced convection, or any orientation under natural convection.
No need for heat pipes in this application. Maybe just one thru the base of the sink depending on the heat flux density of the controller. But I doubt it.
Source: I design heatsinks for electronics using CFD software