This study aims to analyze the cooling characteristics of a heatsink made from recycled Aluminium 3001 obtained from waste beverage cans, using two different fin configurations, namely Design A as the standard design and Design B with modified dimensions at the upper fin gaps. Experimental testing was conducted by heating the bottom section of the heatsink using a thermostat until an initial temperature of 80 °C was reached. The temperature changes at four measurement points (T1–T4) were then recorded periodically using an infrared thermometer during natural cooling for up to 20 minutes. A transient thermal numerical analysis using ANSYS was also conducted to evaluate the temperature distribution, thermal gradient, and thermal flux of both designs under the same boundary conditions. The experimental results showed that both designs experienced a decrease in temperature during the cooling process, with Design B generally exhibiting lower temperatures than Design A. At 20 minutes, the average temperature of Design A reached 41.50 °C, while Design B reached 39.28 °C. The ANSYS simulation showed a minimum temperature of 79.7675 °C for Design B, slightly lower than 79.8069 °C for Design A. The maximum thermal gradient values were 22.8768 K/m for Design A and 22.66 K/m for Design B, while the maximum thermal flux values were 3130.64 W/m² for Design A and 3073.76 W/m² for Design B. Based on the experimental results, Design B demonstrated better cooling characteristics by achieving a lower final temperature than Design A.
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