The Effects of Inlet Blockage and Electrical Driving Mode on the Performance of a Needle-Ring Ionic Wind Pump

Abstract

The thermal management of microelectronics is important because overheating can lead to various reliability issues. The most common thermal solution used in microelectronics is forced convection, which is usually initiated and sustained by an airflow generator, such as rotary fans. However, traditional rotary fans might not be appropriate for microelectronics due to the space limit. The form factor of an ionic wind pump can be small and, thus, could play a role in the thermal management of microelectronics. This paper presents how the performance of a needle-ring ionic wind pump responds to inlet blockage in different electrical driving modes (direct current), including the flow rate, the corona power, and the energy efficiency. The results show that the performance of small needle-ring ionic wind pumps is sensitive to neither the inlet blockage nor the electrical driving mode, making needle-ring ionic wind pumps a viable option for microelectronics. On the other hand, it is preferable to drive needle-ring ionic wind pumps by a constant current if consistent performance is desired.

Multi-inception patterns of emitter array/collector systems in DC corona discharge

“…Ionic wind is of interest in distinct applications such as electrostatic precipitors [1,2], aero-electro-dynamic [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19], gas and ionic pumps [20][21][22][23][24][25][26], particle analyzer [27,28], miniaturized heat cooler [29][30][31][32][33] and xerography, i.e. electro-photography.…”

Study on the Influence of Central Hole Diameter in a Wire Mesh Electrode on Ionic Wind Characteristics

“…The performance of the ionic wind generator is influenced by various factors, including flow velocities, the presence of a dielectric, the type of discharge gas, as well as specific design variables such as electrode configuration and dimensions. The traditional configurations are needle-to-mesh [ 12 ], needle-to-ring [ 6 , 8 , 13 , 14 ], wire-to-rod [ 3 , 15 ], and wire-to-cylinder [ 16 , 17 ]. Recently, multiple or arrayed electrodes have been incorporated to improve the acceleration of generated flow [ 18 , 19 ].…”