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Experimental study on melting performance of phase change material-based finned heat sinks by a comprehensive evaluation

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Abstract

Efficient thermal management has become an important challenge for the integration and miniaturization of electronic devices with high power density. Phase change material (PCM)-based finned heat sink is an efficient passive cooling technology for an intermittent-use electronic device with high power density. The present work reports an experimental study on the transient thermal performance of PCM-based finned heat sinks for thermal management of electronic devices, with particular emphasis on the roles of heat load and PCM volumetric fraction. The temperature response and melting front evolution in heat sinks are analyzed and compared with the corresponding cavity. Moreover, the effects of heat load, fin geometry and PCM volumetric fraction on the melting performance of heat sinks are discussed. The results indicate the presence of fins effectively improves the thermal performance of PCM-based heat sinks, and a more fin number leads to a lower operating temperature and hence the duration of electronic devices is longer in an accepted temperature. Moreover, a higher input heat flux results in a higher operating temperature and a shorter duration of low operating temperature. The increase in PCM volumetric fraction enhances the thermal storage capacity of finned heat sinks and reduces the operating temperature. Therefore, the finned heat sinks filled with PCM ensure sufficiently low operating temperature for perfect reliability and duration of high-power-density electronic devices.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the supports of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51906039, 51725602, and 51776037), Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (Grant Nos. BK20170082 and BK20180404).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Energy Thermal Conversion and Control of Ministry of Education, School of Energy and Environment, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210096, China

    Zilong Deng, Chengbin Zhang & Liangyu Wu

  2. College of Electrical, Energy and Power Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225127, China

    Qing Sun & Liangyu Wu

  3. Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Micro and Nano Heat Fluid Flow Technology and Energy Application, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou, 215009, China

    Feng Yao

  4. Nanjing ACME Electronics Cooling Service Inc., Nanjing, 211101, China

    Dehao Xu

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  1. Zilong Deng
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Correspondence to Chengbin Zhang.

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Deng, Z., Zhang, C., Sun, Q. et al. Experimental study on melting performance of phase change material-based finned heat sinks by a comprehensive evaluation. J Therm Anal Calorim 144, 869–882 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-020-09508-y

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