In many engineering applications, thermal management of electrical devices under cyclic temperature variations can be important for proper operation of the devices and for thermal safety. Open-cell aluminum foams filled with phase change materials (PCM) can be used as effective heat sinks through the use of the thermal conductivity of the foams and the latent heat of the PCM. The effects of geometric parameters of open-cell aluminum foams on the performance of aluminum foam-PCM heat sinks are investigated by experiments. Three types of open-cell aluminum 6061 foams with similar relative densities and different cell sizes are used as specimens. Paraffin is selected as the PCM due to its excellent thermal stability and ease of handling. During the experiment, a copper block, which simulates an electrical device under thermal load, is attached to the bottom surface of the specimen and heated by a hot plate until the temperature of the copper block reaches 100°C. Then the whole experimental set-up is removed from the hot plate and cooled. The temperature history of the copper block is measured as a function of time. The experimental results show that the aluminum foam-PCM heat sinks increase both the heating and cooling times of the copper block. Also, as the surface area per unit volume of the aluminum foam increases, both the heating and cooling times increase due to better utilization of the latent heat of the PCM. Finally, the experimental results indicate that the effect of the surface area per unit volume is more pronounced on the cooling time than on the heating time. The results of this investigation suggest that the surface area per unit volume of aluminum foams can be a major parameter in the design of aluminum foam-PCM heat sinks made of open-cell aluminum foams with similar relative densities.
Revised: October 23, 2006 |
Published: November 1, 2006
Citation
Hong S., and D.R. Herling. 2006.Open-Cell Aluminum Foams Filled With Phase Change Materials as Compact Heat Sinks.Scripta Materialia 55, no. 10:887-890.PNNL-SA-50793.