STAR CCM+ CFD Simulations of Enhanced Heat Transfer in High-Power Density Electronics Using Forced Air Heat Exchanger and Pumped Fluid Loop Cold Plate Fabricated from High Thermal Conductivity Materials

Abstract

As telecommunication and RF power electronics applications continue to push the envelope of waste heat dissipation, more and more, we see a need for active thermal control employing forced air electronic cooling fans in unison with pumped fluid loops in order to meet temperature and performance requirements. This research paper presents results of applying Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) commercial industry STAR-CCM+ software for heat transfer and fluid flow simulation of a novel heat exchanger/cold plate fabricated from k-core high thermal conductivity material in order to realize thermal control system hardware design for very much applications to very large power density (~1 kW/m 2) electronics packaging scenarios. Trade studies involving different heat exchanger/cold plate materials, as well as various fault scenarios within a mock-up of a typical electronics system, are used to illustrate the upper bounds placed on the convective heat transfer coefficient. Agreement between our present findings and previous research in the field of electronics cooling is presented herein.

Numerical modeling and experimental investigation of a prismatic battery subjected to water cooling

“…The increasing number of channels results in a decrease of the maximum temperature (Tmax) and maximum temperature difference (ΔT) of battery packs. Anderson, Devost, Pakdee, and Krishnamoorthy [35] also studied heat transfer and fluid flow simulation of a novel heat exchanger/cold plate fabricated from k-core high thermal conductivity material in order to realize the thermal control system hardware design for applications to very large power density (∼1kW/m 2 ) electronics packaging scenarios. In another study, Ye et al [5] proposed an optimized heat pipe thermal management system (HPTMS) for fast-charging lithium-ion battery cell/pack.…”

Numerical Simulation of the Conjugate Heat Transfer of a “Fluid–Solid Body” System on an Unmatched Grid Interface

“…These problems play a key role in the design and optimization process of products, whose operation needs to consider thermal limitations (e.g., supersonic aerodynamics problems [1]), the stability of thermal processes, the thermal stress level, thermal effectiveness, etc. The importance of such numerical solution problems is primarily determined by the necessity of the spatial and time distribution of temperatures, as well as in spotting problem areas when simulating emergency situations in the designed structures for which a natural experiment is often impossible or entails considerable financial expenses [2][3][4].…”