An experimental characterisation of miniature scale cold plates for electronics cooling applications

Contemporary electronic systems are currently constrained by the high heat fluxes in which they generate at component level. It is evident that heat fluxes are currently approaching the limits of forced air cooling, and that liquid cooling is now under consideration. In this paper five commercially-available and one custom-made cold plates were characterised experimentally. The six cold plates utilized different geometries which included: an array of jets impinging onto a pin matrix; a fin structure; a pin fin structure; a large serpentine channel structure; a slot jet impinging onto wave shaped fins; and the custom cold plate having no significant geometry associated with it, as it was used as a bench mark. The bench mark is anticipated to be the minimum cost solution. The pressure drop, thermal resistance and hydrodynamic power consumption were determined for each solution as a function of flow rate. The results showed that there was a variety of operational power consumption costs coupled with a range of performance levels reached by the six cold plates. This emphasizes the need of a optimum cooling package for a specific application. A relationship of thermal resistance as a function of hydrodynamic power consumed was formulated, thus facilitating the selection of a cold plate for a practical application.