Experimental study on pressure-enhanced close contact melting with PCMs for stable temperature control of high heat flux electronic devices

Abstract

Phase change material (PCM) demonstrates great potential for the thermal management of electronic devices. However, stable temperature control is hardly achieved because of the moving melt front during the phase change process. This study presents the pressure-enhanced close contact melting method for PCM, from the application aspect via visualization study. The overheated liquid PCM can be rapidly removed from the heat source, thus achieving stable temperature control for electronic device when operating under high heat flux. The transient performances of paraffin and low melting point alloy are evaluated, respectively, under various heat loads and pressures. It is recognized from the visualization test that the conventional PCM-based and metal foam-enhanced heat sinks fail to achieve stable temperature control since the continuously elevated liquid thickness between melt front and heat source results in increasing thermal resistance. However, the pressure-enhanced close contact melting method might continuously squeeze melted liquid, thus promoting the contact of melt front with the heat source. The effects of applied pressures and heat loads on the transient thermal management performance over time are virtually investigated. As the result, the surface temperature of heat source can be stabilized around the melting point of PCM. When applying the pressure of 2250 Pa, the thermal resistance can be minimized to lower than 10−4 K·m2·W−1. It is also noted that the thermal management performance remains unchanged when the pressure exceeds 1250 Pa.