Stone as Heatsink

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#24
johnnyx said:
There are doubters, but alumina ceramic works.
Siemens use them in Sitop 3 phase power supplies; (URL="https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/thermal-gap-pads/1777773/"][/URL]
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No… doubt. Fused alumina offers 30 W/(m⋅K);
Copper 401
Silver 450
Aluminum 205
Granite 2.5
Basalt 3.3

All these available between engineeringtoolbox . com and https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1988/0441/report.pdf

Anyway. Don't use stone.

You might be able to get away with using fused alumina, but it is frighteningly expensive in big blocks. And its not a rock, per se - but a man-made engineering material.

GoatGuy
 
#26
JCX good point dude!
That's the solution then. Buy blocks of sapphire or ruby, and turn the into heat sinks.
Right?

… apart from the cutting-and-polishing problem
… and the humungous heat-of-fusion problem
… and the boules tend to explode problem
… and the inability to anneal problem
… and the crispness problem
… and the cost problem

Perfect!
Sigh.

Sheesh.
GoatGuy
 
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#29
scottjoplin said:
Was the OP serious? He hasn't been back. Is anyone else here serious? As well as getting a very smooth and fine contact between surfaces so as not to use too much thermal grease whose only function is to eliminate air gaps, pressure is the other important factor in thermal transfer, how are you going to attach the aluminium to the stone tightly without it cracking due to expansion and contraction?
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Maybe OP realized it was a dumb idea and has moved on? Or maybe he was just trolling and is laughing at all of us getting into a tizzy about this topic and posted on purpose to draw in certain types of people.

Hey, if the stone is heavy, just lay it on top. Plenty of contact force will be generated! 🙂
 
#30
chrisb said:
Cost and machinablity factors aside, where precisely is that material attributed with the type of thermal conductivity properties that would make it suitable to the application under discussion?
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admittedly Sliver bullion bars would be cheaper and better - large pices of native silver are a bit pricier than bullion
 
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#36
johnnyx said:
There are doubters, but alumina ceramic works.
Siemens use them in Sitop 3 phase power supplies; (URL="https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/thermal-gap-pads/1777773/"][/URL]
Click to expand...

Technically, both corundum and pyrite (fools gold) are rock-like and have relatively high thermal conductivity for a mineral if relatively pure, but still about 10x less than, e.g., aluminum. The former is primarily aluminum oxide and the latter is iron sulfide. Not really what I think of as a rock, just like diamond is technically a "rock" but you probably won't find diamonds out back in the yard.... I think the OP is talking about your typical silicate rock here.

But technically speaking, if you found yourself in possession of a "rock" of one of these two minerals, you could get some almost useful heat transfer out of it. The big question is how to form cooling fins with these minerals to transfer the heat to the air? Inquiring minds want to know!
 
#38
Charlie - indeed, all the heat sinks I've ever seen / used on audio gear or computers rely convection and /or forced air cooling for dissipation of the heat from relatively thin finned "radiators". Of course, I've never taken my iMac or Mini apart, so they might be doing something different there in the name of aesthetics.
 
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