Papers by Keyword: Thermal Management

Abstract: Efficient thermal management is a key factor in improving the sustainability and productivity of injection moulding processes, particularly at the micro-scale where thermal transients strongly affect part quality and cycle stability. This work investigates the thermal behaviour of hybrid moulds composed of polymeric support plates manufactured in Precision Resin V01 and stainless-steel inserts manufactured by additive manufacturing. An experimental campaign was carried out on a micro-injection moulding machine to characterize the intrinsic thermal response of the mould under uncooled conditions. Temperatures were monitored through embedded thermocouples and used to develop and calibrate a three-dimensional transient numerical model in COMSOL Multiphysics. Particular attention was devoted to the identification and calibration of heat transfer coefficients at the injection and extraction interfaces, which were found to play a dominant role in governing insert temperature evolution. The calibrated model accurately reproduces the experimental thermal transients, with deviations below 10%, demonstrating its reliability as a predictive tool for analysing mould thermal behaviour and supporting early-stage design and process optimization. The results highlight the advantages of hybrid architectures in promoting thermal stability and provide a robust methodology for modelling heat exchange in unconventional mould configurations.

Abstract: Li-ion batteries generate significant heat during operation, which leads to an increase in temperature and, consequently, a reduction in the battery's efficiency and lifespan. In this study, different cooling methods are simulated for the thermal management of the battery. The cooling using air and liquids is investigated with laminar flow at varying velocities. Results indicated that the use of water/glycol is more effective than air and mineral oil.

Abstract: Effective thermal management is essential for maintaining the performance and reliability of high-power semiconductor devices. This study presents a combined numerical and experimental evaluation of heat sink geometries under natural convection cooling to reduce junction temperatures in compact electronic packages. A three-dimensional finite volume model was developed in ANSYS Fluent to simulate the thermal behavior of a semiconductor package consisting of a chip, controller, thermal pad, and heat sink. The model was validated experimentally using thermocouples and a data acquisition system, with simulation results closely matching measured data, showing errors below 0.5%. Parametric investigations were conducted to assess the effects of heat sink fin number, fin height, and fin shape on junction temperature. Results showed that increasing the number of fins initially enhances heat dissipation, with an optimal range observed between 6 and 8 fins. Fin height had a strong influence, with taller fins significantly reducing junction temperature, up to 29.66 °C compared to the baseline model. Among the evaluated shapes, parallel and pin-fin heat sinks achieved the best performance, with over 23 °C reduction in junction temperature, while the wavy-fin design was less effective due to induced airflow disturbance. These findings provide practical insights into heat sink geometry optimization for passive cooling systems and offer guidance for thermal design in high-performance semiconductor applications.

Abstract: This work analyzes a shape memory alloy Stirling heat engine through an integrated thermal, mechanical, and materials approach. It builds on our previously published framework by generalizing behavior of shape memory alloys (SMA) beyond the nanoscale and extends it to elastocaloric applications, where mechanical work can be used to induce the stress-induced phase transformation. Parallels between stress-strain and enthalpy-temperature behavior underline this extension. Heat engine performance is evaluated in terms of torque and speed, and consideration is given to fatigue service life. Heat transfer and transformation energetics are examined with implications for heat engine performance. The resulting work supports shape memory alloy based heat engines and refrigerators for thermal management in space applications.

Abstract: This paper presents a numerical study on the passive cooling of an electronic component inside a rectangular enclosure filled with phase change material (PCM). The electronic component is centrally located on a substrate and generates volumetric heat. The study utilizes the enthalpy-porosity approach and the thermal equilibrium model. Its goal is to enhance the performance of the PCM by incorporating metal foam and nanoparticles. The investigation examines the impact of varying metal foam porosity while keeping the nanoparticle volume fraction constant. The results indicate that a lower porosity (0.85) significantly improves the thermal conductivity of the PCM by 3 times, which increases the cooling efficiency of the PCM-based heat sink. Meanwhile, nanoparticles have a negligible effect when metal foam is present.

Abstract: Phase change materials (PCMs) with metal nanoparticles have gained significant attention due to the limitation of pure PCMs possessing low thermal conductivity in various applications like electronics, electrical, and thermal devices. In order to overcome these limitations, metal nanoparticles, mainly which possess enhanced thermal conductivity, have sparked considerable interest in dispersing the nanoparticles into PCM. This study focuses primarily on developing nanoparticles-based advanced energy storage material for the thermal management and cooling of electronic systems. To achieve this, thermally conductive silver (Ag) nanoparticles enriched n-dodecanoic acid (SeDA) PCM were prepared with a certain mass fraction of Ag nanoparticles embedded into the PCM using the sol-gel synthesis. The morphology and crystalline structure of the as-synthesized silver nanoparticles were analyzed by FESEM and XRD, respectively, resulting in the highly crystalline particle size ranging from 20 nm to 100 nm. The impact of enriching silver (Ag) nanoparticles into n-dodecanoic acid revealed a noticeable increase in thermal conductivity and swift nucleation kinetics when compared to the pure PCM. Besides, the SeDA PCM exhibited a high heat storage capacity of 194.5 J/g, which is relatively good in terms of regulating the temperature and heat retrieval rate of the electronic systems. Furthermore, the FTIR and the TGA results have confirmed the chemical stability and thermal stability of the Ag-enriched PCM on a long-term basis. These attributes of SeDA PCM are considered to be favorable for the thermal management of electronic systems.

Abstract: Silicon carbide (SiC) device has higher switching frequency, higher breakdown voltage, and lower on-state voltage drop, which makes it subversive potential in the high power density applications. However, the traditional packaging structure cannot cope with the high power density of SiC devices, so the existing commercial SiC power module can only be used in derating applications. This paper proposed a 3-D packaging design method for high power density MOSFET power module, in which the cooling system is integrated inside the module to reduce the thermal resistance and the temperature difference of the SiC MOSFET chips. At the same time, the heat dissipation process of the new structure is modeled and analyzed, and the accuracy of the model is proved by experiment and simulation.

Abstract: The thermal management processes for PhotoVoltaic (PV) cooling applications, increase PV systems’ overall efficiency and yield to a maximized power generation. Accordingly, this paper investigates recent PV thermal management methods, which involve the use of Phase Change Material (PCM) under the back of PV modules. Compared to other cooling methods (such as air and water based methods) PCM based techniques show less need for maintenance, are environment-friendly, and have a longer life cycle. Since PCM are diverse in nature, and many methods exist to guide their selection procedure, this paper begins by revealing different types of PCM, which are found to be as Organic, Inorganic, Eutectic and Commercial PCM, with the characteristics of each. After acknowledging different PCM natures, a selection process is established based on either the melting temperature, latent heat, or thermal conductivity of PCM. Results have shown that Commercial PCM are the best option followed by Organic PCM, due to their improved chemical aspects when compared with Inorganic and Eutectic PCM. Concerning PCM selection criteria, the easiest yet sufficient process is based on the melting temperature method, due to the simplified calculations when compared to other thermic quantities. At the end, future work recommendations are declared, related to PCM lifecycle assessment and cooling/heating cycles effects on PV entropy.

Abstract: This work aims to develop safety shoes, with thermal regulation systems, namely innovative heating and cooling systems. Heating system was developed using printing techniques; and cooling system was developed using the integration of Peltier modules in the shoe structure. These materials are based on the Peltier effect, in which, when an electric current is applied, the heat moves from one face to the other, being subsequently removed using thermal dissipation methods. This effect allows an active cooling. Given the high technological challenge of integrating cooling systems into footwear, this paper will present only developments related to cooling system.

Abstract: A novel thermal management system (TMS) for Li-ion battery module using phase change material (PCM) and cooling water as the heat dissipation source to control battery temperature rise has been developed. Graphite sheets were applied to compensate low thermal conductivity of battery and PCM and improve temperature uniformity of the batteries. One discharge (1C rate)-charge (2C rate) circle was applied in battery modules to test the effectiveness of this TMS. A three dimensional numerical model of the battery module with the TMS was conducted. The results show that this TMS basically meets the demand about the maximum temperature difference of battery module and totally keeps the maximum temperature within the optimum operating temperature range (≤45°C).