Extending Die-Attachment Fatigue Life of Power Electronics Using Phase Change Materials

Author(s):  
Levi J. Elston

The ever-increasing power throughput and ever-decreasing size of modern electronics, specifically power electronics, requires more advanced packaging techniques and materials to maintain thermal limits and sustain mechanical life. Specific applications with known operating conditions for these components can realize added benefits through a tailored thermal-mechanical-electrical optimized assembly, potentially utilizing niche material classes. Without losing any expected functionality, solid-liquid phase change materials could be incorporated into the device structure to reduce peak temperature and/or suppress high-cycle fatigue problems commonly found at die-attachment interfaces. The purpose of this study was to investigate, through model-based design and analysis, the impact of using organic phase-change materials (PCMs) at two strategic locations in the standard device stack. The results suggest noteworthy life improvement (40%) is possible when optimizing for a given melt point material. Additionally, further improvements were predicted through future material enhancements, namely thermal conductivity and latent heat.

2000 ◽  
Vol 123 (3) ◽  
pp. 211-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. G. Evans ◽  
M. Y. He ◽  
J. W. Hutchinson ◽  
M. Shaw

A thermal analysis has been performed for a package design pertinent to power electronics. The objective has been the derivation of straightforward expressions that relate the materials used and their physical dimensions to the power input and the junction temperature. This has been done for both steady-state operating conditions and for pulses. The role of phase change materials (PCMs) in suppressing temperature elevations during pulses is also addressed.


Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 3064 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ewelina Radomska ◽  
Lukasz Mika ◽  
Karol Sztekler

The main drawback of phase change materials (PCMs) is their low thermal conductivity, which limits the possibilities of a wide range of implementations. Therefore, the researchers, as found in the literature, proposed several methods to improve the thermal conductivity of PCMs, including inserting high thermal conductivity materials in nano-, micro-, and macro-scales, as well as encapsulation of PCMs. However, these inserts impact the other properties of PCMs like latent heat, melting temperature, thermal stability, and cycling stability. Hence, this paper aims to review the available in the open literature research on the main properties of enhanced PCMs that undergo solid–liquid transition. It is found that inserting high thermal conductivity materials and encapsulation results in improved thermal conductivity of PCMs, but it decreases their latent heat. Moreover, the insertions can act as nucleating agents, and the supercooling degree can be reduced. Some of the thermal conductivity enhancers (TCEs) may prevent PCMs from leakage. However, some test results are inconsistent and some seem to be questionable. Therefore, this review indicates these discrepancies and gaps in knowledge and points out possible directions for further research.


Author(s):  
Yasmin Khakpour ◽  
Jamal Seyed-Yagoobi

This numerical study investigates the effect of using a blend of micro-encapsulated phase change materials (MEPCMs) on the heat transfer characteristics of a liquid in a rectangular enclosure driven by natural convection. A comparison has been made between the cases of using single component MEPCM slurry and a blend of two-component MEPCM slurry. The natural convection is generated by the temperature difference between two vertical walls of the enclosure maintained at constant temperatures. Each of the two phase change materials store latent heat at a specific range of temperatures. During phase change of the PCM, the effective density of the slurry varies. This results in thermal expansion and hence a buoyancy driven flow. The effects of MEPCM concentration in the slurry and changes in the operating conditions such as the wall temperatures compared to that of pure water have been studied. The MEPCM latent heat and the increased volumetric thermal expansion coefficient during phase change of the MEPCM play a major role in this heat transfer augmentation.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Omar Siddiqui

The applicability of utilizing a variety of thermal mass including phase change materials with commonly used building materials is investigated through the use of simulations and physical testing. The thermal performance and occupant comfort potential of a novel solid-solid phase change material, known as Dal HSM, is compared and contrasted to commonly available forms of thermal mass. Detailed experimentation is conducted to successfully integrate Dal HSM with gypsum and concrete. The measurement of physical characteristics such as compressive strength and modulus of rupture is conducted to ensure that the PCM-composite compound retains the structural integrity to be utilized in a typical building. The use of thermal mass in the Toronto Net Zero house was found to contribute to energy savings of 10-15% when different types of thermal mass were used. The comfort level of the indoor occupants was also found to increase. The performance of Dal HSM was found to be comparable to a commercially available PCM known as Micronal in the heating mode. The cooling mode revealed that Dal HSM provided slightly lower energy savings when compared to Micronal due to a lower phase transition temperature and latent heat. The performance of physical test revealed a decrease in the compressive strength as the concentration of Dal HSM was increased in the PCM-gypsum specimens. Tests were also performed to analyze the impact of increasing the PCM concentration on the flexural strength of PCM-gypsum composite.


Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (23) ◽  
pp. 4474 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamidreza Shabgard ◽  
Weiwei Zhu ◽  
Amir Faghri

A mathematical model based on the integral method is developed to solve the problem of conduction-controlled solid–liquid phase change in annular geometries with temperature gradients in both phases. The inner and outer boundaries of the annulus were subject to convective, constant temperature or adiabatic boundary conditions. The developed model was validated by comparison with control volume-based computational results using the temperature-transforming phase change model, and an excellent agreement was achieved. The model was used to conduct parametric studies on the effect of annuli geometry, thermophysical properties of the phase change materials (PCM), and thermal boundary conditions on the dynamics of phase change. For an initially liquid PCM, it was found that increasing the radii ratio increased the total solidification time. Also, increasing the Biot number at the cooled (heated) boundary and Stefan number of the solid (liquid) PCM, decreased (increased) the solidification time and resulted in a greater (smaller) solid volume fraction at steady state. The application of the developed method was demonstrated by design and analysis of a PCM–air heat exchanger for HVAC systems. The model can also be easily employed for design and optimization of annular PCM systems for all associated applications in a fraction of time needed for computational simulations.


Nanomaterials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadezhda S. Bondareva ◽  
Nikita S. Gibanov ◽  
Mikhail A. Sheremet

The cooling of electronic elements is one of the most important problems in the development of architecture in electronic technology. One promising developing cooling method is heat sinks based on the phase change materials (PCMs) enhanced by nano-sized solid particles. In this paper, the influence of the PCM’s physical properties and the concentration of nanoparticles on heat and mass transfer inside a closed radiator with fins, in the presence of a source of constant volumetric heat generation, is analyzed. The conjugate problem of nano-enhanced phase change materials (NePCMs) melting is considered, taking into account natural convection in the melt under the impact of the external convective cooling. A two-dimensional problem is formulated in the non-primitive variables, such as stream function and vorticity. A single-phase nano-liquid model is employed to describe the transport within NePCMs.


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