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A cooling extrusion from Webra. It is 209 mm wide, weighs 25 kg per metre and has
22 flanges. The small spikes on the flanges increase the total cooling area by about 200 per cent compared to the flanges being smooth. The electronic components are fitted to the smooth underside. |
AB Webra Industri of Enköping are specialists in the development and manufacture of heat sinks for air and liquid cooling on electronic components. Manufacturing is based on aluminium extrusions and Webra provides both standard and customised cooling extrusions.
The majority of electronic components that produce heat require effective thermal dissipation to operate effectively. Since its start at the beginning of the sixties, Webra has become highly skilled and experienced in this field through its own developments
in close collaboration with customers. The basic component in Webra’s products is a heat sink made of aluminium extrusions. This exploits aluminium’s good thermal properties that quickly and effectively conduct heat. The systems are designed for both air and water cooling. The former either works statically or enhanced by wind or a fan. For the latter, the heat sink body has channels built in through which water is pumped.
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| A typical current application for heat sinks from Webra is wind generators where the extrusions cool the electronic components such as thyristors that control the power of the AC circuits. |
Complete solutions
For Webra the main task is to create turnkey customised solutions for conducting
heat. This is made easier by long experience during which the company has acquired the necessary skills and a department that together with customers and technical colleges continually improves Webra’s cutting-edge technology. A typical application is the cooling of thyristors, an electronic component made of semiconductor materials that controls the power in AC circuits. Common applications are trains and wind power generators.
Maximising the cooling area
The capacity of the cooling extrusion is determined by the area available for
conduction. This means designing and developing extrusions for air cooling with as many long and tightly packed flanges as possible to maximise the cooling area.
Flanges with spikes can as much as double the cooling area. Dimensions and design are determined by things like the thermal dissipation requirement, available air flow (head wind, fan etc.) as well as the service needs. Certain customers and applications require greater spaces between the flanges for such things as regular cleaning.
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| Jimmie Östberg, Hydro Aluminium Profiler and Rikard Buråker, site manager för Webra, have a common interest in heat sinks in aluminium. |
“Aluminium is the optimal material,” explains Webra’s site manager Rikard Buråker. “The alternative is copper but if you look at performance and price then the answer is aluminium. Furthermore the material is much easier to machine compared to copper.”
Hydro Aluminium Profiler helps Webra with technical service in the form of optimising extrusions. The extrusions are delivered in long lengths by HAP and are cut and customised by Webra at its factory in Enköping. The bulk of production is exported and apart from Scandinavia, the company has customers in Germany, Italy, Switzerland and the USA that include ABB, Siemens, Bombardier and Semikron.
All with Webra’s cutting-edge cooling technology as the common denominator!
