Experimental study on melting performance of phase change material-based finned heat sinks by a comprehensive evaluation

Efficient thermal management has become an important challenge for the integration and miniaturization of electronic devices with high power density. Phase change material (PCM)-based finned heat sink is an efficient passive cooling technology for an intermittent-use electronic device with high power density. The present work reports an experimental study on the transient thermal performance of PCM-based finned heat sinks for thermal management of electronic devices, with particular emphasis on the roles of heat load and PCM volumetric fraction. The temperature response and melting front evolution in heat sinks are analyzed and compared with the corresponding cavity. Moreover, the effects of heat load, fin geometry and PCM volumetric fraction on the melting performance of heat sinks are discussed. The results indicate the presence of fins effectively improves the thermal performance of PCM-based heat sinks, and a more fin number leads to a lower operating temperature and hence the duration of electronic devices is longer in an accepted temperature. Moreover, a higher input heat flux results in a higher operating temperature and a shorter duration of low operating temperature. The increase in PCM volumetric fraction enhances the thermal storage capacity of finned heat sinks and reduces the operating temperature. Therefore, the finned heat sinks filled with PCM ensure sufficiently low operating temperature for perfect reliability and duration of high-power-density electronic devices.