Effect of PCM fill ratio and heat sink orientation on the thermal management of transient power spikes in electronics

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to investigate the usefulness of Phase Change Material based heat sinks in power surge operations. Experiments have been carried out on a PCM based heat sink for different fill ratios (0, 33, 66, and 99%) of the PCM and different orientations (0, 90, 180°) of the heat sink under constant and power surge heat loads. The heat sink with a fill ratio of 0% is considered as the baseline case for comparison. The heat sink with a fill ratio of 66% at 0° orientation recorded lower temperatures among all the fill ratios and orientations under both constant and power surge heat loads. Partial filling (66% fill ratio) of the PCM in the cavity is more effective than complete filling (99% fill ratio) in handling both constant and power surge heat loads.