Thermal characteristics of 20 W LED module on light thermal conductive plastic (TCP) heat sink were investigated in comparison with that on aluminum die casting alloy (ADC-12). Thermal simulations of the heat sinks were conducted by using flow simulation of SolidWorks with the following input parameters: density is 1.70 and 2.82 kg/㎡, thermal conductivity is 20 and 92 W/(m·K) for TCP and ADC-12, respectively. The simulated and measured temperatures of the LED modules on TCP heat sink were consistent with its measured temperature, which was 3℃ higher that on ADC-12. The fabricated LED module on TCP heat sink with a weight of 120.5 g was 30% lighter in weight than that of the ADC-12 reference with 171.0 g.

The heat dissipation conditions of high-power 5 watt LEDs-based searchlight modules were optimized with varying LED bar’shape, materials, and ambient temperature. The LED junction temperature was estimated by using Computational Fluid Dynamics simulation. The optimal heat dissipation conditions were found as follows; LED bar’ shape: L=80 mm, W=4 mm, t=10 mm, copper material, LED junction temperature of 116.6℃, ambient temperature of 50℃, total mass of 184 g, and shadowing area of 320 mm2. The difference between the junction temperatures of our fabricated and simulated LEDs-based searchlight modules is about 3℃, which confirms the validity of our thermal simulation results.