Testing water blocks for the SKA

© Astron

The heart of the SKA LOW correlator, in development at CSIRO and ASTRON, is the Gemini LRU. To find the best cooling solution for the Xilinx FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) on Gemini, the DESP group is working together with the Mechanical group.

The image shows Sjouke Kuidersma testing a water block. For the measurements, Sjouke has made a setup wherein 130W can be generated and cooled by different water blocks. By measuring the temperature of the heat-plate, the liquid in- and outlet, and the liquid flow, the efficiency of the water block can be calculated. By carefully designing the pattern of the channel on the inside of the block, the optimal heat transfer from the FPGA to the liquid can be found.