Application of Spot Cooling Technologies for the Thermal Management at the Source

Advancements in high-efficiency heat dissipation techniques are imperative to meet the long-term requirements in thermal management of power electronics in various combat vehicles. Commercially used techniques, which generally cool the whole circuit in a package level, can not well solve the specific problem of cooling the circuit with highly localized/concentrated hot spots. The ability to cool the localized hot spots directly will enable the resultant thermal management system to handle high heat flux yet with less size/mass and power consumption required. Therefore, in this proposed research program, Aegis Technology will: (1) Develop and demonstrate a novel class of spot cooling technology by utilizing electrowetting-based droplet manipulation that enable the implementation of thermal management at the source for future power systems with highly concentrated hot spots; (2) Identify the underlying technical issues that govern the fabrication and performance of this novel class of thermal management; and (3) Use this knowledge to design and manufacture the thermal management system that exhibit heat dissipation capability as required by the Army. The anticipated technological impact of the proposed research program is the design, development and implementation of an automatic hot-spot cooling concept that will improve the design and fabrication of future thermal management with unprecedented power, weight and size savings.