COMPUTATIONAL DESIGN AND FLOW ANALYSIS OF SMART FLOW CONTROL DEVICE FOR DYNAMIC COLD PLATE USED IN COMPUTER SERVER COOLING

Abstract

One of the areas which Electronics cooling research is focusing on is high heat fluxes and non-uniform power distribution. Cooling is always required for maximum junction temperature and as such it is important to mitigate hot spots. These hot spots result in large temperature differences across the surface of high-end devices such as multi-core chip scale packages. One possible solution for non-uniform power distribution across the chip can be use of dynamic cold plate cooling along with smart flow control device and thus this project aims at developing and testing of dynamic cold plate integrated with use of smart flow control devices.

Bimetallic strip which shows good mechanical displacement on application of heat and is also cost effective will be the best choice for flow control device to regulate flow of liquid to the cold plate. Parameters like thermal performance and compatibility with water are considered for selection of materials for bimetallic strips. A careful analysis is made in choosing the material for bimetallic strips. Bimetallic strips are used along the path of the flow to regulate the flow of liquid through the device. Bimetallic strips get activated automatically based on the temperature of the liquid flowing through it and thus, no additional power is required. A design is made based upon the cold plate and device dimensions. Transient structural analysis is made by applying thermal boundary conditions to test for temperatures up to 100degree centigrade. Conjugate heat analysis is made to study the behavior of the bimetallic strips under thermal loads in interface with fluid flow and conclusions are derived based on the results.