Recent Developments in Air Pumps for Thermal Management of Electronics

For electronics, poor thermal management could cause severe mechanical and electrical failures. Forced convective air cooling, i.e., flowing air over a hot surface, is one of the most efficient and economical solutions to manage thermal issues of electronics. Air pump is used to initiate and sustain airflow required in forced convection. This paper reviews both the mechanical and the nonmechanical air pumps that have been using widely in current electronics or have a great potential in future electronics. The mechanical pumps include axial fans, blowers, beam fans, and diaphragm pumps, while the nonmechanical pump specifically focuses on electrohydrodynamic pumps. This paper presents the working principle first and then the recent developments, including the pump itself (design, characteristics, etc.) and the applications in thermal management (placement, integration, etc.). In the end, this paper conducts the strength analysis (flow rate, pressure, noise, flexibility, and reliability) among the reviewed five types of air pumps.