Development of a fully packaged passive thermal regulator.
Sci Rep
; 14(1): 16979, 2024 Jul 23.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-39043838
ABSTRACT
Thermal regulators are devices that can adopt either the role of a thermal insulator or a thermal conductor, depending on the thermal input conditions, and play an increasingly important role in thermal management systems. In this study, we developed and tested a new passive thermal regulator design that operates around room temperature and achieves high switching ratios. Our regulator is structurally integer, scalable, orientation-independent, resistant to vibration, and can be easily integrated into existing thermal management solutions. The working principle of the passive regulator is simple yet effective, whereby an aluminum plug attached to a bimetallic strip enters and exists a wedge-shaped gap between two conductors. We demonstrate a switching ratio of ≈ 50 ( - 8 + 34 )1 for a fully packaged prototype (≈ 320 (± 200)1 for a non-packaged regulator) operated in the open laboratory environment. Through geometric optimization using numerical simulations, we show that a switching ratio of ≈ 100 ( - 15 + 18 )1 can be easily obtained, which can be further increased by increasing the cross-sectional area of the input conductor, hence increasing the ON-state heat transfer rate. The OFF-state thermal performance is much less sensitive to the size of the conductor, making the device highly scalable.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Sci Rep
Año:
2024
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Estados Unidos