Experimental and numerical study on phase change material (PCM) for thermal management of mobile devices

Abstract

As mobile devices become more complex and higher in performance despite the smaller in size, heat concentration at localized areas has become a problem. In recent years, passive cooling using phase change materials (PCMs) have drawn attention as thermal management methods for mobile devices. PCMs reduce the temperature increase rate due to their latent heat properties. This reduction in the temperature increase rate is called a "delay effect". Moreover, microencapsulated PCMs (MPCMs) are attracting attention because they keep the melted PCMs from leaking. In this study, PCM sheets containing MPCM/polyethylene composite material are investigated for the thermal management of mobile devices. Namely the authors conduct a series of experiments using the PCM sheet with high thermal conductivity sheet mounted into a simply modeled mobile device. Effects of the mass, the latent heat, the thermal conductivity, the configuration of the PCM sheet, and high thermal conductivity sheet on the temperature of a smart phone simulator are investigated. A finite element analysis (FEA) is also conducted considering the phase change of PCMs to investigate the optimal dimension and shape of PCMs. As a result, the delay effect of PCMs and effectivity of a copper sheet pasted on the PCMs are verified by experiments. Moreover, FEA shows that using the PCM sheet with high thermal conductivity sheet has an advantage for the thermal management of mobile devices and gives an optimal condition of the PCM sheets.

Experimental Investigation of Thin PCM Packages and Thermal Spreader for Thermal Management of Portable Electronic Devices

“…However, a small number of investigations with the aim of using PCM as part of the thermal management system of thin electronic devices (overall thickness in the range of 15 mm or smaller) have been published [10][11][12][25][26][27][28][29][30], and those are of great interest to the field of study and this work specifically. Numerical investigation on the thermal management of a modern computer tablet including thin PCM layers (0.5 mm) was performed by Sponagle and Groulx [11].…”

Structural, Optical and Frequency Dependent Electrical Behaviour of Aluminum Nitride (ALN) Nanopowder

“…In order to avoid the breakdown of electronic devices, composites materials used in these devices should have high thermal strength and electrical insulator properties. Normally, high thermal conductive performance has been obtained by adding fillers due to the thermal conductive chains or networks produced by the fillers [6][7][8][9][10]. An outstanding challenge to enable such applications has been a thorough understanding of the Aluminum Nitride (AlN) Nano powder's electrical response with variation of frequencies.…”

Studies on Preparation and Characterization of Aluminum Nitride-Coated Carbon Fibers and Thermal Conductivity of Epoxy Matrix Composites

“…In order to avoid the malfunction of electronic devices, composites materials used in these devices should have high thermal conductivity and electrical insulator properties. Normally, high thermal conductive performance has been obtained by adding fillers due to the thermal conductive chains or networks produced by the fillers [1][2][3][4][5]. In order to improve the thermal conductivity of composites, various inorganic ceramic fillers with high thermal conductivity have been introduced into insulation composites; notable example include silicon nitride (SiN) [6][7][8], silicon carbide (SiC) [9], boron nitride (BN) [10,11], alumina oxide (Al 2 O 3 ) [12][13][14], and alumina nitride (AlN) [15][16][17].…”