Additively Manufactured Cold Plate Integrated With Evaporator Wicks and Phase Separators for Thermal Management of Multiple High-Heat-Flux Heat Sources

Abstract

Abstract In this study, a Hybrid Two-Phase Cooling System (HTPCS) was developed, combining the advantages of capillary-driven evaporation from wick structures with pumped two-phase cooling. The cold plate, the core element of the HTPCS, was made of AlSi10Mg and incorporated seven heaters distributed in a non-patterned configuration across its surface. Each heater was assigned a wick structure as an evaporator. The key contribution of this study lies in (i) fabricating the entire cold plate through one single additive manufacturing (AM) process, and (ii) preventing the flooding of individual evaporators using an internal phase separator. The first merit results in a substantial reduction in fabrication complexity compared to traditional manufacturing processes, representing a crucial milestone in the path toward commercializing the developed HTPCS in this study. The second merit results in a further reduction in the thermal resistance of the cold plate. The HTPCS exhibited significant thermal performance, operating at heat fluxes exceeding 505 W/cm2 and achieving low and uniform thermal resistances of ∼0.16 K-cm2/W. Furthermore, the HTPCS operated within a low pumping power range, below 0.14 W. This study introduces a promising cooling technology for the thermal management of the next generation of miniaturized electronic devices, especially those integrating multiple high-heat-flux heat sources.