Experimental studies on selected thermal interface materials

Abstract

The current work is an experimental study, with the primary goal of investigating and exploring ways to improve thermal contact conductance through a detailed examination and analysis of metallic contacts and discovering opportunities for enhancement, increased efficiency, and thus heat dissipation using thermal interface materials. The steady-state experiments have been carried out on a simple and calibrated experimental set-up. A comprehensive investigation was conducted to assess the thermal performance of Cu-Al contacts for the selected range of contact pressures and temperatures to suit the electronic industry?s distinctive characteristics and technical requirements. As a thermal interface material, graphene paste has been tested under various combinations of interface pressure and heating circumstances against the bare metallic contacts. Error analysis has also been performed for the current experimental investigation. It has been demonstrated that using graphene paste as a thermal interface material thermal contact conductance is improved, significantly enhancing heat dissipation. The results of thermal contact conductance for graphene paste have been compared with the same for silicon grease from literature. The present results thus demonstrate the application and suitability of the selected thermal interface material in the specified range of heating and contact pressure conditions in the context of particularly thermal management applications.