A hybrid CFD-mathematical model for simulation of a MEMS loop heat pipe for electronics cooling applications

Abstract

A hybrid CFD-mathematical (HyCoM) model was developed to predict the performance of a micro loop heat pipe (MLHP) as a function of input heat rate. A micro loop heat pipe is a passive two-phase heat transport device, consisting of microevaporator, microcondenser, microcompensation chamber (CC) and liquid and vapor lines. A CFD model was incorporated into a loop solver code to identify heat leak to the CC. Two-phase pressure drop in the condenser was calculated by several two phase correlations and results were compared (Izenson and Crowley 1992 AIAA Paper A92-47847). Capillary tube correlations (Blevins 1984 Applied Fluid Dynamics Handbook (New York: Van Nostrand-Reinhold)) were used for pressure drop calculations in fluid lines. Effects of working fluid and change in geometry were studied. For a heat transport distance of 10 mm, the base model MLHP was 50 mm long, 16 mm wide and 1 mm thick. In the base model, widths of the grooves, liquid and vapor lines, evaporator and condenser were 55 µm, 200 µm, 750 µm, 2 mm and 4 mm, respectively.

Parametric analysis of loop heat pipe operation: a literature review

“…Currently, LHP miniaturization is in the forefront of an extensive research and development to provide cooling solutions to the high heat load/heat flux problem of advanced electronic packaging [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]. The constrained space of such applications requires to design specific LHPs.…”

Geometric optimization for a thermal microfluidic chip

“…[20] Micro loop heat pipes have been investigated for electronics cooling application, and demonstrated promising performances [21], [22]. The main advantage of these devices is the ability to withstand the unexpected changes in the evaporator heat fluxes.…”

Micromachined passive phase-change cooler for thermal management of chip-level electronics

“…Such systems, however, are not suitable for many high-power density electronics because cooling efficiency highly depends on the material properties. Therefore, the combination of emerging MEMS technology and increasing demand for thermal management of chip-level electronics has led to the development of miniaturized two-phase cooling devices using superior heat absorption ability when the liquid coolants change to vapor [12][13][14], allowing the coolers to be used in a wide range of applications from ground to space environments [15][16][17]. In these systems, the microchannels have been generally fabricated by silicon (Si) etching technologies to use the capillary force of liquid coolants during the device operation.…”