Synthetic Air Jets to Cool Computers

[CaptHandsome]

Sounds interesting. I wonder how much noise the drivers create during the vibration and also at the moment of air expulsion. Anyone have any ideas on where i can see some pics?

[Someone Stupid]

I'd imagine either silent are darn well near it.

[killer_teddy]

here is another article, with pictures.
http://gtresearchnews.gatech.edu/new...se/synjets.htm

[Vernon Frazee]

A bit more info, a pic and some links can be found on this page: http://gtresearchnews.gatech.edu/new...se/synjets.htm

[Happy Joe]

Lets think, a woofer in the mid-high bass frequencies is about 100Hz. If we put in a Helmholtz resinator (bass reflex box) the air moves in and out of the port and the sound level increases. Offhand I would guess that it will be noisy as h... the dickens and set upsympathetic vibrations in everything around it. I would like more info, though, as the concept is interesting.

One question though... where do you get the synthetic air?
Another... aren't all mechanical (and electrostatic)(I'm ignoring octopii, squids etc.) jets synthetic?
oops... I guess thats two... sorry.
Enjoy!

[Happy Joe]

AH.. got my machine to accept the link... I see (said the blind man) this is not a method to move huge quantities of air, like a fan... its a means to increase the efficency of heat transfer so as to get better cooling with a relatively small amount of air flow, and noise.
Now, how to induce micro vorticies in our HSF's air flow? I think I will see if I can find a Piezo driver to hook to the heatsink fins then drive it at the resonent frequency of the fins. This would cause the fins to move back and forth and give out a screaming/squeeling noise but it would give a lot of turbulence to the airflow. The vibrations might not be so good for the processor though.
Thanx Vernon.
Enjoy!

[fizur2002]

Hmmm, would be interesting for you to try and resonate your HSF on a old machine that you wouldnt mind losing at the very worst case scenerio, give it a try and let us know how it works.

[Zeke]

ion wind will do the same thing but much more effective on removing the thermal barrier.

For more information, find my post that the gremlins just ate or visit my web page on AOL, which almost never works.

Friggin techno BS really ticks me off sometimes.

[Happy Joe]

I hesitate to direct streames of charged air near electronics (yes I know about, and have used, comercial air ionization units to protect sensitive electronic equipment from ESD damage). I have tried many techniques to neutralise the charge in the air as an amatuer experimenter, but some charged air always seems to slip through. We should note that the typical heatsink's nearest conductor is the CPU itself (and the heatsink would make a very good charge collector). A 10 megohm resistor between the HS and the case should aleviate most concerns. Feel free to experiment...
Ion engines are a lot of fun to mess with. Some years ago I made one that could blow out a wooden match.
Enjoy!

[Zeke]

http://hometown.aol.com/dawze3/myhomepage/ionwind.html

I need to update the web page but it gives you an idea of what I have been doing with ion wind generators.

Using a schlieren optical setup I can view the effect of ionization on thermal barriers. An A/C ion generator used in IC fabs was purchased off eBay for $10. Even though the output is balanced in the charge output it still manages to disrupt/remove the thermal barrier without producing charges that would breakdown and harm electronic components.

At first I was trying to produce enough air flow to replace an exhaust fan in my PC case but to get even close to 20CFM I was cranking up the voltage to the point I couldn't catalyze the massive amount of ozone, even with multiple manganese dioxide screens.

I have been concentrating instead on removing the thermal barrier to improve the cooling efficiency of the fans that are already in place. Simple and efficient. I have thermal probes coming in soon so I can measure the direct effect of temperatures in my PC with and without the ionization.

I have limited exposure control on my digital camera and have not been able to take pictures of the schlieren setup on my CPU. Tomight I am playing with a laser source for my schlieren photography.

I'll get my web page updated soon with my results.

[dpowell7299]

So in other words, they took my aquarium air pump and speeded it up 10 times.

Cute idea but if my machine has such tight tolerances that it can not take the dead space under the hub of a fan, then something was not designed correctly.

Don