A dumbbell-shaped 3D flat plate pulsating heat pipe module augmented by capillarity gradient for high-power server CPU onsite cooling

Abstract

With the development of the data center industry and the increasing power density of servers, it is crucial to remove waste heat from small-area heat sources to ensure the safe and efficient operation of data processing chips. To complement existing studies, in this paper, a novel three-dimensional flat plate aluminum pulsating heat pipe (3D-FPPHP) with four different channel structures for radial heat dissipation of high-power server chips was proposed. The results showed that under the favorable influence of the additional capillarity force provided by the variable diameter channels, the FPPHP filled with acetone can start up easily and has good robustness during variable power operation. When the input power was 150 W, the junction temperature of the heating source could be reduced by 42.49 °C (48.67%) compared to an identical aluminum plate. In addition, a heat sink module based on the proposed 3D-FPPHP with optimal charging ratio was tested in a 1U server chassis. The results showed that it can manage an input power of 300 W (corresponding to a heat flux of 41.15 W/cm2) and achieve a total thermal resistance of 0.2053 °C/W under the premise of ensuring a safe junction temperature of chips below 85 °C.