Evaluation of thermal performance and vibration effects on automotive headlights for selection of heat sink geometry

The creation of heat is inextricably tied to the functioning of vehicle headlights, which presents a substantial problem for dependable and long-term operations. The concomitant rise in heat generation has grown to be a significant problem as the luminous effectiveness of light-emitting diode (LED) headlights continues to improve. Heat sinks have been commonly employed to remove surplus heat from the LED chips and other parts of the lighting system to solve this problem. This research investigates the impact of different heat sink fin architectures on the thermal performance of LED headlights by subjecting numerical models to varying LED powers ranging from 6 to 12 W across four fin models. Outcomes reveal that the diverse thermal characteristics resulting from variations in the number of fins in the heat sink lead to enhanced thermal dissipation of up to 73.6%. Furthermore, these heat sinks are subjected to vibrational testing under the ISO 16750 standard, assessing vibrational characteristics in three distinct scenarios: Passenger Car Engine, Passenger Car Sprung Masses, and Passenger Car Unsprung Masses. Through analysis, it reveals that the vibrational characteristics of the heat sinks align with established standards, reinforcing their reliability and suitability for automotive applications.