A numerical model for heat sinks with phase change materials and thermal conductivity enhancers

Abstract

The effectiveness of thermal conductivity enhancers (TCEs) in improving the overall thermal conductance of phase change materials (PCMs) used in cooling of electronics is investigated numerically. With respect to the distribution of TCE and PCM materials, the heat sink designs are classified into two types. The first type of heat sink has the PCM distributed uniformly in a porous TCE matrix, and the second kind has PCM with fins made of TCE material. A transient finite volume method is used to model the heat transfer; phase change and fluid flow in both cases. A generalized enthalpy based formulation and numerical model are used for simulating phase change processes in the two cases. The performance of heat sinks with various volume fractions of TCE for different configurations is studied with respect to the variation of heat source (or chip) temperature with time; melt fraction and dimensionless temperature difference within the PCM. Results illustrate significant effect of the thermal conductivity enhancer on the performance of heat sinks.