Aluminum Base Plate Research Articles

Bowtie design for thermal expansion mimicry and mitigation

A geometric bowtie design for the purpose of mimicking (matching) and/or mitigating (reducing) the thermal expansion effects between two laterally opposing structures is investigated. A bowtie design is that of two opposing overlapping triangles with farthest sides parallel. This design embodies thermal centering concepts which utilize the relationships of the trigonometric identity known as the law of sines for a triangle from which beneficial thermal properties can be engineered. For validation. The bowtie design is embodied using two separated Zerodur plane mirrors, symmetrically opposed, and each seated in Maxwell-style kinematic couplings of spheres and vee-groves. The vee-grooves form a wheel-like pattern on an aluminum baseplate. The intersection of the vee-grooves is the common overlapping thermal center of both mirror mounts. The refractive-index corrected interferometric measurement of the displacement between these two mirrors shows that even during non-isothermal non-equilibrium transitions and states, the nominal ∼90 μm thermally induced (13 °C) expansion of an aluminum baseplate can be mitigated, being reduced more than 98 % to ∼1.4 μm by mimicking the thermal expansion properties of the mirrors’ structural material. Engineering thermally-invariant kinematic bowtie designs using materials having higher thermal expansion coefficients is also described.

Static and Fatigue Characterization of Adhesive T-Joints Involving Different Adherends

It is very important to understand the damage mechanisms as well as the mechanical response of T-joints involving different materials on the base plate. For this purpose, two configurations were studied. In one, the joint is composed of a base plate and a T-element, both in Al 6063-T5, while in the other one, the aluminum base plate was replaced by a glass fiber composite. Finally, each configuration was divided into two batches, where in one, the elements were bonded with a stiff adhesive (Araldite® AV 4076-1/HY 4076) while in the other, a more ductile adhesive (Araldite® AW 106/HV 953 U) was used. The static and fatigue strength of all configurations was evaluated in bending. In all cases, the damage occurred at the end of the T-element, where a crack appeared and propagated toward the interior of the T-joint. The bending strength is highest for joints involving aluminum and the ductile adhesive, which is 2.8 times higher than the same configuration involving composite base plates and 1.7 times higher than that using the stiff adhesive. Finally, the highest fatigue lives were obtained for T-joints involving Al 6063-T5 base plates, and regardless of the base plate material, the ductile adhesive promoted the highest fatigue strength.

Experimental Research on the Fluctuation Characteristics of Water Film Driven by Wind

A series of experimental studies were conducted to explore the fluctuation characteristics of the water film under the air flow condition with the research background of the anti-icing system. The dynamic measurement of the water film on the surface of the aluminum-based plate was achieved using the digital image projection measurement technology. The influence of diverse wind speeds and Reynolds numbers on the average water film thickness, fluctuation intensity, and velocity of the liquid film was analyzed. The piecewise characteristics of the wind speed and Reynolds number for the fluctuation characteristics of the water film were analyzed innovatively. The fluctuation characteristics and formation principle of each stage were also examined. The results had a significant impact on establishing and modifying the mesoscopic models of aircraft icing to improve the design methodology of the anti-icing process.

Development of An Analytical Method for Design of Electromagnetic Energy Harvesters with Planar Magnetic Arrays

In this paper, an analytical method is proposed for the modeling of electromagnetic energy harvesters (EMEH) with planar arrays of permanent magnets. It is shown that the proposed method can accurately simulate the generation of electrical power in an EMEH from the vibration of a bridge subjected to traffic loading. The EMEH consists of two parallel planar arrays of 5 by 5 small cubic permanent magnets (PMs) that are firmly attached to a solid aluminum base plate, and a thick rectangular copper coil that is connected to the base plate through a set of four springs. The coil can move relative to the two magnetic arrays when the base plate is subjected to an external excitation caused by the vehicles passing over the bridge. The proposed analytical model is used to formulize the magnetic interaction between the magnetic arrays and the moving coil and the electromechanical coupling between both the electrical and mechanical domains of the EMEH. A finite element model is developed to verify the accuracy of the proposed analytical model to compute the magnetic force acting on the coil. The analytical model is then used to conduct a parametric study on the magnetic arrays to optimize the arrangement of the PM poles, thereby maximize the electrical power outputted from the EMEH. The results of parametric analysis using the proposed analytical method show that the EMEH, under the resonant condition, can deliver an average electrical power as large as 500 mW when the PM poles are arranged alternately along the direction of vibration for a peak base acceleration of 0.1 g. A proof-of-concept prototype of the EMEH is fabricated to test its performance for a given arrangement of PMs subjected to vibration in both the lab and field environments.

Design of Fiber-Composite/Metal–Hybrid Structures Made by Multi-Stage Coreless Filament Winding

Additive manufacturing processes, such as coreless filament winding with fiber composites or laser powder bed fusion with metals, can produce lightweight structures while exhibiting process-specific characteristics. Those features must be accounted for to successfully combine multiple processes and materials. This hybrid approach can merge the different benefits to realize mass savings in load-bearing structures with high mass-specific stiffnesses, strict geometrical tolerances, and machinability. In this study, a digital tool for coreless filament winding was developed to support all project phases by natively capturing the process-specific characteristics. As a demonstration, an aluminum base plate was stiffened by a coreless wound fiber-composite structure, which was attached by additively manufactured metallic winding pins. The geometrical deviations and surface roughness of the pins were investigated to describe the interface. The concept of multi-stage winding was introduced to reduce fiber–fiber interaction. The demonstration example exhibited an increase in mass-specific component stiffness by a factor of 2.5 with only 1/5 of the mass of a state-of-the-art reference. The hybrid design approach holds great potential to increase performance if process-specific features, interfaces, material interaction, and processes interdependencies are aligned during the digitized design phase.

Towards a space-qualified Kerr-lens mode-locked laser.

We report a 1.5-GHz Kerr-lens mode-locked (KLM) Yb:Y2O3 ring laser constructed by directly bonding the cavity components onto an aluminum baseplate. Stable unidirectional operation with an output power ≥10mW was obtained for pump-diode currents of 300-500 mA, corresponding to a total electrical power consumption of 1.5 W. After repetition rate stabilization, a comparison with a conventionally constructed identical laser showed a 50% reduction in phase noise. In free-running operation the bonded laser showed superior passive repetition rate stability. The bonding process follows an already proven integration approach in space-borne instrumentation, mapping a development pathway for KLM lasers in aerospace applications.

Investigation of the thermal parameters of an aluminum heater with nanoporous alumina

An important task faced in the industry of permanently installed heating systems addressed by a large number of manufacturers is power saving. Heating systems may have variegated designs, yet there are basic design requirements, i.e., high operational reliability, resource saving, environmental resistivity and stability of electric parameters. The key component of any heating unit is the heater. Flat resistive heaters have found wide application in heating units aimed at sustaining healthy indoor microclimate, maintaining preset process parameters on industrial premises, as well as in anti-icing systems, agriculture and general industry. We studied the thermal parameters of flat aluminum heating units containing carbon fiber ribbon heaters. To ensure the required insulation of the heater from the metallic base plate, the aluminum surface had a 20 mm thick porous aluminum oxide layer. The ends of the carbon fiber were metalized with a layer of copper for further soldering upon integration into the electric heating unit assembly. The electrical resistance of the heater with a carbon fiber was 60 Ohm. The propagation of heat flows inside a plate of aluminum with nanoporous aluminum oxide was studied using thermal imaging measurements. Temperatures on the surface of the aluminum heater cover and on the opposite heat emitting side were shown as a function of heating time. The experimental results suggest that the heat generated by the linear carbon fiber heater distributes rapidly in the entire bulk of the aluminum heater plate. This indicates a high heat conductivity of the heater aluminum base plate whose parameters provide for the required thermal parameters of the heating unit.

Numerical thermal performance of free convection in metal foam heat sinks with fin edges

This study introduces numerical investigation of natural convection in metal foam heat sinks with two types of fin edges namely fillet and sharp edges. Aluminum metal foam of various pore densities (5, 10, 20 PPI) and sets of porosities ( ) are used in the simulations. The dimensions of the samples were 100 mm length, 100 mm height, 10 mm thickness and the spacing between fins were kept at 8 mm. Then the metal foam strips were installed onto an aluminum base plate (100 * 100 * 3.5 mm3). The investigation has been performed by control volume method . As well as, the energy equations are established on a principle that based on a local thermal non-equilibrium (LTNE) model in which the temperature of the fluid and the solid matrix are solved separately. The heat input was different from 4 to 30 W in numerical runs and the air was used as a working fluid. The results show that the base temperature of the heat sink is lower for the new design of edges. Therefore, the proposed approach of the heat sink has significant potential to be utilized to enhance the thermal performance of heat sinks and thereby to develop more advanced effective cooling devices and techniques. The maximum enhancement of the heat transfer coefficient with fillet profile reached 5.6% greater than fins with sharp edges

Field Investigation on the Effects of Base Plate Material on Experimental Surface Wave Data with MASW

Source characteristics significantly affect the signals generated during seismic testing. Proper source selection plays a major role in data quality and can potentially improve investigation outcomes. This is particularly true for surface wave testing where the goal is to establish the frequency variation of phase velocity. Little research has compared the input energy caused by different base plates when impact sources are used. Consequently, data were collected using the Multichannel Analysis of Surface Waves (MASW) method with three base plate configurations (aluminum, aluminum over a rubber mat, and polyethylene) and two different sledgehammers. The variations in signal frequency content and amplitude spectra, energy, and dispersion images were systematically analyzed. There were appreciable differences in the energy introduced by different base plate configurations. Both the aluminum/rubber and the polyethylene base plates led to power spectra increases relative to the aluminum base plate. Subsequently, the aluminum/rubber and polyethylene base plates typically transferred more energy into the subsurface. This was not necessarily the case when the base plates were used on soft surficial soils. The variations in predominant frequency content were also less substantial, though the aluminum/rubber and polyethylene base plates developed slightly lower-frequency content at the expense of higher-frequency components in the dispersion curves. Despite the noticeable differences in energy transfer and frequency content, the base plate materials did not appreciable alter interpretation of the dispersion behavior at the sites given the uncertainty present in the dispersion images. This highlights that the selection of MASW base plate materials can be correspondingly driven by practical considerations such as noise, portability, and durability. Consequently, base plate materials with viscoelastic characteristics are a promising alternative to conventional metallic plates for coupling impact sources in surface wave testing, though care should be exercised when employing them at sites with soft ground conditions.

An integrated laser system for the cold atom clock.

We demonstrate an integrated laser system for the mobile integrating sphere cold atom clock. Three distributed Bragg reflector diode lasers (780 nm) with custom drive circuits are used for the cooling, repumping, pumping, and probe lights. Automatic frequency-locking and relocking of the laser are presented. All of the optical elements are integrated on two sides of an aluminum base plate. The mechanical structure is simulated and optimized to minimize the deformation of the base plate. We optimize, measure, and discuss the frequency and intensity noises of the laser system. The techniques and designs used in this laser system can also be used in other mobile platforms for quantum sensing experiments.

Civilized explosive welding: Impact welding of thick aluminum to steel plates without explosives

In this paper, we report welding of 6.35 mm thick AA5052-H32 and AA1100-H14 plates to mild steel, which was achieved in a laboratory environment by vaporizing foil actuator welding (VFAW). An AA3003-H14 interlayer was used between the AA5052-H32 and the mild steel to improve weldability. The flyer velocity was measured by in-situ photon Doppler velocimetry, and the recorded data provides information about the impact condition and weldability of each material combination. Micro-indentation confirmed that there is no heat affected zone (HAZ) as most conventional welding techniques would produce. Mechanical testing showed that the lap shear strength is comparable to the ultimate tensile strength of the aluminum base plate. We demonstrate VFAW as a viable manufacturing technique for defense and other applications requiring thick aluminum to be joined to steel.

A Bayesian inference approach: estimation of heat flux from fin for perturbed temperature data

This paper reports the estimation of the unknown boundary heat flux from a fin using the Bayesian inference method. The setup consists of a rectangular mild steel fin of dimensions 250×150×6 mm3 and an aluminium base plate of dimensions 250×150×8 mm3. The fin is subjected to constant heat flux at the base and the fin setup is modelled using ANSYS14.5. The problem considered is a conjugate heat transfer from the fin, and the Navier–Stokes equation is solved to obtain the flow parameters. Grid independence study is carried out to fix the number of grids for the study considered. To reduce the computational cost, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is replaced with artificial neural network (ANN) as the forward model. The Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) powered by Metropolis–Hastings sampling algorithm along with the Bayesian framework is used to explore the estimation space. The sensitivity analysis of the estimated temperature with respect to the unknown parameter is discussed to know the dependency of the temperature with the parameter. This paper signifies the effect of a prior model on the execution of the inverse algorithm at different noise levels. The unknown heat flux is estimated for the surrogated temperature and the estimates are reported as mean, Maximum a Posteriori (MAP) and standard deviation. The effect of a-priori information on the estimated parameter is also addressed. The standard deviation in the estimation process is referred to as the uncertainty associated with the estimated parameters.

Microstructural and Phase Composition Differences Across the Interfaces in Al/Ti/Al Explosively Welded Clads

The microstructure and phase composition of Al/Ti/Al interfaces with respect to their localization were investigated. An aluminum-flyer plate exhibited finer grains located close to the upper interface than those present within the aluminum-base plate. The same tendency, but with a higher number of twins, was observed for titanium. Good quality bonding with a wavy shape and four intermetallic phases, namely, TiAl3, TiAl, TiAl2, and Ti3Al, was only obtained at the interface closer to the explosive material. The other interface was planar with three intermetallic compounds, excluding the metastable TiAl2 phase. As a result of a 100-hour annealing at 903 K (630 °C), an Al/TiAl3/Ti/TiAl3/Al sandwich was manufactured, formed with single crystalline Al layers. A substantial difference between the intermetallic layer thicknesses was measured, with 235.3 and 167.4 µm obtained for the layers corresponding to the upper and lower interfaces, respectively. An examination by transmission electron microscopy of a thin foil taken from the interface area after a 1-hour annealing at 825 K (552 °C) showed a mixture of randomly located TiAl3 grains within the aluminum. Finally, the hardness results were correlated with the microstructural changes across the samples.

Experimental and Transient Thermal Analysis of Heat Sink Fin for CPU processor for better performance

The advancement of the digital computer and its utilization day by day is rapidly increasing. But the reliability of electronic components is critically affected by the temperature at which the junction operates. The designers are forced to shorten the overall system dimensions, in extracting the heat and controlling the temperature which focus the studies of electronic cooling. In this project Thermal analysis is carried out with a commercial package provided by ANSYS. The geometric variables and design of heat sink for improving the thermal performance is experimented. This project utilizes thermal analysis to identify a cooling solution for a desktop computer, which uses a 5 W CPU. The design is able to cool the chassis with heat sink joined to the CPU is adequate to cool the whole system. This work considers the circular cylindrical pin fins and rectangular plate heat sink fins design with aluminium base plate and the control of CPU heat sink processes.

Effect of the flyer material on the interface phenomena in aluminium and copper explosive welds

The effect of physical and mechanical properties of three different flyers on the interface phenomena of partially overlapped explosive welds, using the same base plate material, was studied. Flyers of Copper Cu-DHP and aluminium alloy 6082 (tempers T6 and O) were welded to AA6082-T6 base plates. The morphology of the weld interface is strongly influenced by the physical and mechanical properties of the flyer. In the interface of the aluminium welds, the use of a flyer of lower hardness and yield strength than the base plate results in asymmetrical waves, with bigger amplitude and smaller wavelength than the weld series of similar temper, and higher mechanical properties. The copper-aluminium welds presented flat interfaces, mainly because of the significant differences in melting temperature and density between the copper flyer and the aluminium base plate. Considering these results and analysing several dissimilar welds carried out by other authors it was found that when the product of density and melting temperature ratios between the flyer and the base plate exceeds a certain value, there is no formation of waves at the interface of the metals. Furthermore, for the Cu-Al welds, the CuAl2 (θ) intermetallic phase was formed on the bond zone.

Computational Heat Transfer Analysis and Genetic Algorithm-Artificial Neural Network-Genetic Algorithm-Based Multiobjective Optimization of Rectangular Perforated Plate Fins

Numerical studies on plate fins with longitudinal rectangular perforations placed perpendicular to an aluminum base plate are carried out under laminar natural convection conditions. In this paper, a detailed parametric study by varying the dimensions of fin and perforation is carried out to obtain a physical insight into the enhanced heat transfer characteristics of a perforated fin. The perforated fins are found to have an augmented heat transfer rate compared to the solid fins having same contact area. This paper uses a computationally efficient algorithm using soft computing to determine the optimized geometry with a limited set of numerical solutions. This is achieved with the help of artificial neural network (ANN). To reduce the effort in determining suitable parameters for ANN, genetic algorithm (GA) is used. The ANN is trained based on a minimal set of numerical/computational fluid dynamics (CFD) results. The trained ANN can then predict the base plate temperature for any other untrained set of parameters in the same range. A multiobjective optimization of the perforated fin is carried out with two objectives: minimum base plate temperature and maximum weight reduction. This is carried out by applying the GA on the ANN as the fitness function to obtain the multiobjective optimal. The obtained optimized fin geometry can thus be used effectively in many heat transfer applications that necessitate heat transfer enhancement with reduced weight compared to the conventional fins.

Method for producing angled optical fiber tips in the laboratory

A simple laboratory method is presented for producing optical fibers with tips polished at various angles. Angled optical fiber tips are used in applications such as optical sensing and remote laser surgery, where they can be used to control the angle of light leaving the fiber or direct it to the side. This allows for greater control and allows areas to be reached that otherwise could not. Optical fibers were produced with tip angles of 45 deg using a Perspex mounting block with an aluminum base plate. The dispersion of light leaving the tip was tested using a blue (470 nm) LED. The angle imposed an angular shift on the light diffracting out of the tip of approximately 30 deg. Additionally, some light reflected from the tip surface to diffract at 90 deg through the side of the fiber. These observations are consistent with theory and those seen by other studies, validating the method. The method was simple to perform and does not require advanced manufacturing tools. The method is suitable for producing small quantities of angle-tipped optical fibers for research applications.

A New Forward Model Approach for a Mild Steel Fin under Natural Convection Heat Transfer

This paper reports the correlation for temperature of the mild steel fin which is subjected to heat flux at its base. The study is performed on a two dimensional, steady state and laminar flow model. The numerical model is restricted to natural convection and the fluid under consideration is air. A rectangular mild steel fin (250mm x 150mm x 6mm), aluminium base plate (250mm x 150mm x 8mm) and an extended geometry representing the ambient air condition is modelled and simulated using ANSYS 14.5. Grid independence study is carried out to fix the number of grids in order to find the optimum number of nodes for carrying out simulations. The heat flux (q) at the bottom of the base plate is varied to study temperature distribution, surface heat transfer coefficient (h) and velocity profile of the flow in the boundary layer around the fin. All these parameters are studied by inclining the model at various angles. A multiple regression analysis is carried out to obtain correlation for the temperature in terms of angle of inclination and the heat flux. The main objective of the work is, proposing a model for the estimation of heat flux or heat transfer coefficient from the fin thereby reducing the computational cost of the forward model in the field of inverse heat transfer.

Estimation of loss factors of a constrained layer plate using viscoelastic layer

A finite element method is developed and validated for the estimation of loss factors of a viscoelastically damped plate. Viscoelastic layer is used as constrained layer and is sandwiched between an aluminum base plate and a constraining layer. Frequency-dependent material properties are used for the viscoelastic material in the finite element model. The derived dynamic equations of motion are used to carry out harmonic analysis to determine the natural frequencies and loss factors of sandwich plate and validated with experimental results for cantilever boundary condition. The validated finite element model is then used to estimate the loss factors of sandwich plate with various boundary conditions and different thicknesses of constraining and constrained layer for a given base plate thickness. The results show that the loss factor is maximum for a constraining layer to sandwich plate thickness ratio of 0.40–0.45 and is independent of boundary condition. The loss factor increases with increase in thickness of the viscoelastic layer. The loss factor increases for higher mode for all boundary conditions.

Thermal analysis of high power LEDs on the MCPCB

The management of the reduced junction temperature of LEDs is a critical issue because it will affect many physical parameters such as light output, wave length and LED’s lifetime. The model used in this simulation consists of a metal core PCB attached with six chips(GaN on sapphire, Ag paste, cathode/anode, silicone encapsulant, mold frame) for 5W LED module. The MCPCB is composed of an aluminum base plate, a thin layer of dielectric, and a layer of copper. The temperature distribution of the developed LED module was simulated, and the thermal behavior within this 3-D model was investigated by using a commercial computational fluid dynamic code (Fluent 6.3). The results showed that the temperature variation along the vertical direction is more dominant than that in the circumferential direction due to the heat spreading effect of the copper layer. The ratio of heat dissipation through the each thermal path was calculated and compared for various input conditions. Several parameters that increase the junction temperature, such as the thermal conductivity and thickness of the dielectric layer and the encapsulate material, heat transfer coefficient and input power were also examined. Finally, a combination of designs for attenuating the junction temperature was proposed.