Self-Supporting Microchannel Liquid-Cooled Plate for T/R Modules Based on Additive Manufacturing: Study on Its Pass Design, Formation Process and Boiling Heat Transfer Performance

Abstract

The additive manufacturing technology of laser-based powder bed fusion (L-PBF), which is used to produce boiling heat transfer structures, offers a high processing flexibility and can provide lattice structures with a high surface-to-volume ratio. As an important part of the phased array radar, the plentiful transmit/receive (T/R) modules can generate considerable heat. Targeting this local overheating problem, this study discusses the pass design, the optimal formation process, and boiling heat transfer performance of microchannel liquid-cooled plates based on L-PBF additive manufacturing technology. The optimum design and process parameters were obtained by performing basic channel experiments. On this basis, the design and formation experiments of the microchannel structure were performed, and then the porosity and pore morphology of microchannel liquid-cooled plate samples were analysed. The boiling heat transfer experiments were conducted with deionised water, and the boiling heat transfer characteristics were compared with the saturated boiling curve of a traditional copper-tube liquid-cooled plate. The average wall temperature of the designed samples decreased by 4% compared with that of the traditional liquid-cooled plate under the same heat flow density the value reduced from 111.9 °C to 108.2 °C. Furthermore, within the same optimal boiling temperature range, the average heat flow densities of all the prepared samples increased by >60% compared with those of the traditional liquid-cooled plate the value increased from minimum 16 W∙cm−2 to maximum 34 W∙cm−2. The self-supporting microchannel structure can considerably improve the heat dissipation effect of T/R modules and solve the local overheating problem.

Microchannel Liquid-Cooled Heat Exchanger Based on a Nonuniform Lattice: Study on Structure Calculation, Formation Process, and Boiling Heat Transfer Performance

“…The schematic diagram of the host is shown in Figure 5 a. The SLM experimental facility constituted a host, laser system, cooling system, control system, and gas protection system ( Figure 5 b) [ 28 ]. The laser was an RFL-C300L continuous-wave fibre laser.…”

“…The experimental boiling heat transfer platform included a boiling heat transfer test device, an auxiliary heating control device, the main heating control device, and a data acquisition device ( Figure 6 ) [ 28 ]. An auxiliary heating rod and a condensing tube were installed for preheating and condensing, respectively.…”

“…An auxiliary heating rod and a condensing tube were installed for preheating and condensing, respectively. These steps were followed in the boiling heat transfer experiment: The boiling working medium was added into the container, the power of the auxiliary heating rod was adjusted, and the liquid was heated in the container to the saturated boiling point for approximately 30 min to eliminate noncondensable gases and the gases present in sample pores [ 28 ]. The main heater was turned on to a specific power, and the temperature data using the thermocouples were recorded when the system reached the quasi-steady state.…”

“…The main heater was turned on to a specific power, and the temperature data using the thermocouples were recorded when the system reached the quasi-steady state. The heating power of the main heating rod was gradually increased; whether the data of the thermocouples attained the stable state was monitored, and the collected data were recorded [ 28 ].…”

“…Moreover, the bubbles at the lower layer only separate from the column and exhibit a small volume; thus, the resistance in the small pores is limited. When the bubbles rise to the upper layer and grow in volume, the large pores can reduce the resistance [ 28 ]. The saturated boiling curve of this nonuniform lattice structure is shown in Figure 15 .…”