<p>Data centers housing high performance computing equipment have large and growing rack densities, which pushes the limits of traditional air cooling technologies because of limited heat transfer coefficients. Therefore, direct contact cooling using so-called cold plates is emerging as a necessary cooling option for high-density electronics. The use of mini-channels or pins fins to enhance internal heat transfer area inside cold plates requires extensive micro-machining that is relatively time consuming and expensive for mass production. As an alternative approach, inserting and bonding pre-manufactured metal foams into hollow bodies are explored as a potentially inexpensive means to enhance the interior heat transfer area of cold plates. One key aspect of the performance of metal foams in cold plates is the thermal contact resistance in the bonding between the foam and the substrate. This project predicts the contact resistance using measurements of pure Cu foams with thicknesses varying between 4 mm and 10 mm. The measurements and corresponding thermal resistance model derive the foam-substrate thermal contact resistance and effective foam thermal conductivity. &nbsp;The effects of wicking are also observed for different bonding techniques using microscopic images of water jet cut foam assemblies. Recommendations are made for the optimal technique to bond the foams to the cold plate base.</p>

Measuring the Thermal Contact Resistance Between Cu Foams and Substrates for Direct Contact Cooling Applications in Data Centers

Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/InterPACK/InterPACK2021/volume/85505

ASME 2021 International Electronic Packaging Technical Conference and Exhibition (InterPACK2021)

Supporting the need among researchers worldwide for additional online and multimedia content, ASME now offers the ASME Conference Video Collection. This platform will collect and provide long-term access to conference presentation videos, encompassing all technology areas within ASME's technical conference and events program. About 30,000-40,000 engineers across all mechanical engineering and related disciplines participate in ASME conferences each year. This includes authors of approximately 6,000 to 8,000 technical papers published by ASME, the majority of whom also submit video presentations for our virtual conferences. The video collection will be available as an add-on to existing product packages or as a separate subscription.