Formability and mechanism analysis in one-step cutting fabricating heat transfer fin arrays

Metal fin arrays play essential roles in cooling electronic devices, and a facile method to fabricate fin arrays is in demand. Herein, a simple “one-step, two-stage” cutting method was proposed to efficiently produce copper fin arrays. Experiments and mechanism analysis were conducted to elucidate its forming characteristics. Two deformation stages were ploughing extrusion-cutting (PE-C). The PE stage produced array fins’ geometry (shape and size), while the cutting stage controlled their distribution pattern (spacing and direction). Furthermore, analytical models were developed and they agreed well with experimental results, proving the excellent adjustability of PE-C.