Increasing Cooling Performance of Phase Change Materials with Metal Foam Structures

Phase change materials (PCM) serve to maintain constant surface temperatures, crucial for preventing thermal failures in electronic components subjected to increasing heat fluxes. PCM, integrated with efficient heat sink structures, offers local cooling to safeguard devices. Passive cooling solutions, such as PCM-based systems, require no energy consumption or complex mechanical parts. The melting-solidification cycle of PCM stores and releases energy within a specific temperature range, ensuring constant temperature operation, particularly in time-dependent scenarios. PCM stabilizes and regulates component temperatures under cyclic heat loads, extending operational lifespan for steady loads by averting critical temperature thresholds. Considering the low thermal conductivity of PCM (<1 W/mK), strategies such as the use of metal fins (PCM heat sinks), incorporation of high thermal conductivity nanoparticles, or utilization of metal foam matrices as thermal conductivity enhancers (TCE) are proposed. This study investigates the thermal performance of PCM integrated with metal foam structures and fins to prevent IC package temperature failures. The experimental study utilized variable parameters such as metal foam porosity (0.88–0.94), pores per inch (PPI) values (10-20-40), and heat loads (20-40 W). Thermal performance comparisons between heatsink and metal foam structures are conducted, establishing a foundation for using metal foam-PCM composites.