Two-Phase, Vibration-Induced Droplet Atomization (VIDA) Thermal Management of High Heat Flux Power Electronic Modules

Vibration-Induced Droplet Atomization, or VIDA, is a thin-film spray cooling technology developed at Georgia Tech with tremendous potential for the thermal management of Power Conversion Modules for Configurable Zonal Systems (CZS). The patented VIDAtechnique uses a vibrating piezo driver in a self-contained cell to deliver a highly controllable, rapid-response, on-demand aerosol-sized water spray to hot electronic components. Vapor evaporated from the hot surface condenses on a secondary coolingloop, thus enabling efficient heat removal. Results show that a small charge can effectively manage high power densities with an extremely low ratio of power consumed to power removed and with very low flow rates. Through use of a small piezo pump, thesystem can be made orientation-independent. Cooling rates in excess of 100W/cm2 have been measured while keeping devices below 125C. It is anticipated the technique can be developed to deliver up to 1000 W/cm2 with optimizations described herein. TheVIDA technology has the potential for delivering a method of high power-density thermal management in a relatively simple, low-cost configuration, in a low-profile form factor. Applications include cooling of military electronics, including lasers andradar components; high-power rack mount and blade servers and high-temperature