Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) come as a welcome relief as much of the world is looking for ways to reduce energy. Aluminium extrusion plays a key role in the heat sinks necessary for cooling LEDs.

According to the us Department of Energy, solid-state lighting, which includes leds, has the potential to reduce lighting energy use in the us by one-third. This translates to the equivalent of saving 348 billion kilowatt hours annually – which in turn saves money.

“Cost savings are significant,” says Ruben Guillermo, Global Key Account Manager for market area Thermal Management. “There’s about a 50 percent cost saving in operations, which is why leds are being used more.”

Leds are used not only in lighting, but in medical equipment, vehicle interiors, signage and more. In order to enjoy long life, as high as 20 years, leds need to dissipate the heat they generate through a heat sink, a component that transforms heat from a solid material into a fluid medium such as liquid or air.


Advantageous light weight

Sapa produces aluminium extruded heat sinks which provide superior heat transfer performance compared to traditional die cast heat sinks. A Sapa case study revealed that extruded aluminium heat sinks provide a 30 percent weight savings and a 12 percent temperature reduction over heavier die cast sinks.

Light weight is especially advantageous for outdoor lighting as many assemblies are suspended in the air, for example in parking gar­ages. “With lighter, smaller heat sinks you can actually fill the same void or spot with only half or a quarter of the size of the original lighting assemblies,” Guillermo points out.

Other advantages of an extruded aluminium heat sink are its environmentally friendly reusable material, shorter lead times, improved surface quality and highly integrated designs.

“We can give customers an efficient, very light heat sink that functions as a thermal cooling and also offers unique features, a more attractive look and a smaller size than the other heat sinks out there,” says Guillermo.

Only copper is superior to aluminium extrusion, but it is also three times the price, he adds.


Inventory on hand

For each thermal solution, Sapa engineers provide customers with computational fluid design (cfd) models to validate a heat sink while it is still under design and industrial review. This is done to ensure that a heat sink meets the customer’s requirements for design, surface treatments and functionality. Sapa also ensures more effective design disciplines to an assembly by eliminating the need for additional downstream processes.
Sapa is able to respond quickly to customer demands by keeping inventory on hand.

“There is a lot of volatility in the us market and quick response is critical due to legislation, timing and the political process,” says Guillermo. “We have been able to help customers respond to requests for led heat sinks in just four weeks or less, whereas others take six to eight weeks.”

With thirty million street lights targeted for conversion from fluorescent to led lighting in the us alone, it can’t hurt to speed up the process.

Cari Simmons