Metal Foam and Nanoparticles Reinforced PCM for Electronic Components Thermal Management

Abstract

This paper presents a numerical study on the passive cooling of an electronic component inside a rectangular enclosure filled with phase change material (PCM). The electronic component is centrally located on a substrate and generates volumetric heat. The study utilizes the enthalpy-porosity approach and the thermal equilibrium model. Its goal is to enhance the performance of the PCM by incorporating metal foam and nanoparticles. The investigation examines the impact of varying metal foam porosity while keeping the nanoparticle volume fraction constant. The results indicate that a lower porosity (0.85) significantly improves the thermal conductivity of the PCM by 3 times, which increases the cooling efficiency of the PCM-based heat sink. Meanwhile, nanoparticles have a negligible effect when metal foam is present.