Metal filament enhanced thermal energy storage applied to on-demand cooling of high power-density hand-held electronics

A thin-slab thermal energy storage volume with embedded metal filaments sandwiched between an electronics heat spreader plate and the hand-held unit skin is analyzed. A numerical model is created and results are compared with temperature responses of a plane 1-D pad containing no metal filaments. Results show the addition of fins reduces operating temperatures by 30% in addition to reducing the phase change material's re-solidification time by approximately 37%. Additionally, a thermal response analytical model is developed. The analytical model results correlate well against numerical simulations. A parametric study outlines the effects of the Biot number and power level impact on performance.