Experimental Investigation into the Effect of Fin Shapes on Heat Dissipation Performance of Phase Change Heat Sink

Abstract

In this paper, the thermal management of missile-borne components in a flight state is studied. Avoiding excessive component temperatures under the high-temperature circumstances brought by aerodynamic heat is a requirement to guarantee the equipment’s safe and reliable operation. In this work, we designed four finned shell constructions for a phase change module using the phase change temperature control method and then studied their effects on the module’s ability to dissipate heat using an experimental approach. Three sizes of 30 mm, 40 mm, and 50 mm heating pads were used to replicate heat sources with various heat flux densities and heat dissipation regions, with reference to the heating characteristics of various chips. The results demonstrated that the square-shaped fin had the best heat dissipation effect after operating for 10 min under the power of 10 W and 20 W, while the strip-shaped fins exhibited the highest performance under the power of 30 W. The square-shaped fins had the best heat dissipation effect when reducing working time to 5 min. This paper proposes the optimal fin scheme under different power densities, as well as an enhanced heat dissipation idea for the melting process of the phase change materials based on the test results.