3-Component Composite Phase Change Material (PCM) for Electronics Subject to Transient/Pulsed Heat Loads

IEEE Transactions on Components, Packaging and Manufacturing Technology, DOI: doi.org/10.1109/TCPMT.2024.3376234

3-Component Composite Phase Change Material (PCM) for Electronics Subject to Transient/Pulsed Heat Loads

Andoniaina M. Randriambololona^a, Vivek Manepalli^a, Rachel C. McAfee^a,^b, Bidisha Ojha^c, Rahi Miraftab-Salo^d, Kidus Guye^a, Hyoungsoon Lee^e,f, Samuel Graham^a, and Damena Agonafer^a
^aDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
^bDEVCOM Army Research Laboratory, Adelphi, Maryland, USA
^cMechanical Engineering and Materials Science Department, Washington University in St. Louis, St. louis, USA
^dDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
^eSchool of Mechanical Engineering, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, South Korea
^fDepartment of Intelligent Energy and Industry, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, South Korea

For more information about this article and related research, please contact Prof. Damena Agonafer.

Abstract:

Harnessing phase change materials (PCMs) for thermal management of power electronic devices shows potential to improve their reliability while decreasing the size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP-C) of the system due to the PCM’s high latent heat during solid-to-liquid transition. However, despite its high latent heat of fusion, PCMs are limited by their low thermal conductivity and a narrow operational temperature range near their melting point. We here numerically investigate the thermal buffering capability of three distinct compositions of a novel three-component composite PCM consisting of organic microencapsulated paraffin and metallic Fields metal with similar melting temperatures and copper cylindrical micropillars. These composites are evaluated under different single pulse width heating and cooling conditions and are benchmarked against a pure copper block. Results indicate that the composites generally surpass pure copper in minimizing peak device junction temperatures when the PCM undergoes phase change under single pulse loading, with the best performing composite consistently achieving a lower junction temperature than the copper block. The best performing composite can achieve up to 44% reduction in junction temperature swing compared to the copper reference when under a pulse train loading. These findings highlight the potential of the 3-component composite system as an effective thermal buffer for electronics subjected to transient heat loads.

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