Thermally Conductive (TC) Plastics: A Demonstration of the Suitability of TC-Plastics as a Metal Replacement in LED Lamp Holders

摘要

In section 1, an assessment is made of the typical thermal conductivities attainable in a TC-plastic followed by an examination of the trade-off between increased thermal conductivity and decreased toughness caused by increasing filler load of such a TCplastic. Having established that currently there is a ceiling conductivity of around 25 W/mK for TC-plastics, i.e., well below the 100 W/mK TC level of metals, subsequently a basic analysis is provided on the suitability of materials with such moderate TC-levels in metal replacement. For this purpose, the ideal case of a unidirectional (1D) heat flow is considered in section 2, in section 3, a more complex case of a bidirectional heat flow is analyzed. Finally, section 4 considers the thermal performance of TC-plastics in a real 3D part, i.e., the heat sink housing of an LED lamp. More specifically, a comparison is made between the thermal performance of the housing molded in a heat conductive plastic and that of an all-aluminum housing. This comparison clearly demonstrates general validity and practical value of the conclusions drawn in sections 2 and 3 and highlights the outstanding suitability of TC-plastics for heat sinks in lighting applications. High performances STANYL TC in particular.