Date of Graduation
5-2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering (MSME)
Degree Level
Graduate
Department
Mechanical Engineering
Advisor/Mentor
Huitink, David
Committee Member
Millett, Paul C.
Second Committee Member
Walters, Keisha B.
Keywords
Dielectric Gels; Encapsulated Phase Change Materials; Passive Cooling; Phase Change Materials; Thermal Interface Materials
Abstract
Improving energy resilience requires continuous improvement of power electronic systems focusing on increasing power densities, often limited by the thermal management system performance and requirements. Thermal management systems can be more optimal in thermal energy transfer and more efficient in energy consumption through passive cooling components integration. There are many passive cooling mechanisms that work to store or transfer energy without direct power requirements including phase change materials (PCMs). PCMs are of particular interest because they store large amounts of energy across a phase transition, commonly solid to liquid, and work well as additional thermal buffering within power dense systems. The added thermal buffering can significantly improve efficiency and reliability of power dense electronics by reducing maximum thermal gradients and temperatures around critical components. It is often challenging to incorporate conventional PCMs within electronic architectures in a manner that both provides adequate energy response and protects systems from the liquid phase. The structures needed to enclose these PCMs reduce opportunities to maximize total power density realization. To address this problem, this work uses encapsulated phase change materials (ePCMs) to design stable ePCM based composites for direct integration into existing electronics architectures. ePCMs are micro to nano sized particles with a PCM core surrounded by a protective shell that can be easily integrated into existing matrix materials to provide passive cooling capability without liquid phase concerns. This work integrates ePCMs into dielectric gels and thermal interface materials to design new ePCM laden composites that can directly replace existing electronics materials located near the thermal generation regions. The ePCM composites are tested and compared against their predecessors to characterize the performance improvements and associated tradeoffs of direct implementation in existing electronic configurations.
Citation
Kasitz, J. (2025). Integration of Encapsulated Phase Change Materials into Power Dense Electronic Package Architectures for Enhanced Thermal Buffering. Graduate Theses and Dissertations Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/5746
