Rapid Prototyping

Custom designed heatsinks are an indispensable component to the production needs of countless industrial electronics manufacturers today, and only with rapid prototyping can these companies rely on obtaining their specially made heat sinks within a reasonable amount of time. Indeed, many cannot afford to wait over a month to get their customized heatsinks shipped in, so a quick provider of heatsinks is absolutely necessary.

Thanks because the recent development of unique technologies, heat sink producers are able to quickly provide specialized devices for a wide variety of industry needs. In fact, the rate of production - and delivery - for these heatsinks has come within the range of less than two weeks for an entire order, so that companies no longer have to put projects on hold for up to two months while waiting for their heatsink supply.

In recent years, heatsink providers have been able to consolidate their resources so that not only can they cater to a wide range of customized design requirements, but they can also streamline production of the unique heatsinks. The applications of rapid prototyping include a long list of relatively complex heatsink designs. Ranging from the optimization of surface levels to the shape of the pin, rapid prototype production has allowed for the dramatically increased levels of manufacturing.

While the aspect ratio in heatsinks - a measure of the surface area - is generally found to be around 12 to1 on the higher end, various manufacturers may find that for specific components this may not be enough. That's why providers are able to make use of complex fin folding methods to quickly design heatsinks that nearly triple the aspect ratio and thereby satisfy their clients' heatsink surface area requirements. In addition, rapid prototyping is useful for heatsinks that require additional fan embedding. It is important to remember that heatsinks must be designed to accommodate fans, and often customization - and adding additional fans - is a wise step to take.