Novel thermal management of electronic devices by nano enhanced phase change materials: A numerical study
Mohamed Ismail, İbrahim Dinçer
Abstract
Efficient and effective thermal management is considered essential for electronic devices as increased power densities generate substantial heat, risking performance and longevity. This study numerically analyzed nano-enhanced phase change materials (NPCMs) integrated with optimized heat sink designs for electronic cooling. Solid-solid PCMs (S-S PCMs) were augmented with nanoparticles to improve thermal conductivity, and a novel heat sink geometry was developed using the Solid Isotropic Material with Penalization (SIMP) topology optimization method. The optimization study identified an optimum Helmholtz radius of 8 × 10 −4 m and a hyperbolic projection slope (β) of 6, achieving uniform temperature distribution and efficient phase transitions. The topology-optimized design reduced chip and heat sink temperatures by 2.65 °C and 3.51 °C, respectively, compared to the baseline model, while nanoparticle enhancement alone in Model 2 achieved reductions of 1.64 °C and 2.54 °C. A grid independence analysis and experimental validation confirmed model accuracy with an average deviation of 3 %. This study therefore brings an optimized heat sink design utilizing topology optimization to create compact cooling solutions for high-power density electronics. • The study proposed a unique optimized heat sink configuration for electronic chip cooling. • The performance of developed heat sink is analyzed and compared to baseline models. • Results show superior performance of proposed design couple with S-S NPCMs.