Low-cost batch uniform-temperature plate and additive manufacturing method
By designing low-cost, mass-producible heat exchange plates and using additive manufacturing methods, the problem of high cost in additive manufacturing heat exchange plates has been solved, achieving efficient production and optimized heat transfer performance, simplifying the powder cleaning process, and reducing manufacturing costs.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2025-12-24
- Publication Date
- 2026-04-03
AI Technical Summary
In existing technologies, additive manufacturing of heat exchange plates is costly, which limits their large-scale application. Furthermore, traditional methods suffer from poor capillary structure design, low strength, difficulty in controlling porosity, and insufficient heat storage capacity.
The design of a low-cost, mass-producible heat spreader plate includes an outer shell, a first mass transfer capillary structure, a second mass transfer capillary structure, and a load-bearing capillary structure. Combined with additive manufacturing methods, multiple heat spreaders are formed by printing, heat treatment, and welding through an arrangement and combination device on a substrate, and liquid ammonia is used as the thermal control working fluid.
It enables low-cost mass production, improves production efficiency, enhances the overall strength and heat transfer performance of the heat spreader, simplifies the powder cleaning process, and reduces manufacturing costs.
Smart Images
Figure CN121782906A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This invention belongs to the field of additive manufacturing technology for metal thermal control functional structures, and particularly relates to a low-cost mass production heat exchanger and its additive manufacturing method. Background Technology
[0002] Traditional vapor chambers often employ methods such as powder sintering, grooved plate welding, and wire mesh sintering. Among these, powder sintering offers the best performance due to its uniform capillary structure, high reliability, and superior performance. However, it still suffers from drawbacks, including low sintering strength of porous capillary core materials, difficulty in controlling porosity, poor capillary pore design flexibility, and insufficient heat storage capacity. Additive manufacturing, which directly prints vapor chambers containing complex internal capillary structures, offers high design freedom and allows for the creation of optimized structures impossible with traditional methods, leading to performance breakthroughs. However, the high cost of additive manufacturing limits the large-scale application of additively manufactured vapor chambers. Summary of the Invention
[0003] The technical problem solved by this invention is to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art and provide a low-cost mass production vapor chamber and additive manufacturing method, which maintains the advantages of high degree of freedom and strong heat transfer performance of additive manufacturing while reducing the manufacturing cost of vapor chamber and improving production efficiency.
[0004] The objective of this invention is achieved through the following technical solution: a low-cost, mass-producible heat exchanger, comprising: an outer shell, a first mass transfer capillary structure, a second mass transfer capillary structure, a load-bearing capillary structure, and a cavity; wherein, the first mass transfer capillary structure is attached to the inner side of the upper panel of the outer shell; the second mass transfer capillary structure is attached to the inner side of the lower panel of the outer shell; one end of the load-bearing capillary structure passes through the first mass transfer capillary structure and connects to the upper panel of the outer shell, and the other end of the load-bearing capillary structure passes through the second mass transfer capillary structure and connects to the lower panel of the outer shell; a cavity is formed between the first mass transfer capillary structure, the second mass transfer capillary structure, and the load-bearing capillary structure; the cavity is filled with a portion of a thermal control working fluid.
[0005] In the aforementioned low-cost mass-produced heat spreader, the thickness of the heat spreader is 4mm-5mm.
[0006] In the aforementioned low-cost mass-produced heat spreader, the outer shell is a closed structure with a thickness of 1.0mm-1.5mm.
[0007] In the aforementioned low-cost mass-produced heat exchanger, the thickness of the first mass transfer capillary structure is 0.8 mm to 1.0 mm, and the thickness of the second mass transfer capillary structure is 0.8 mm to 1.0 mm.
[0008] In the aforementioned low-cost mass-produced temperature equalization plate, the load-bearing capillary structure is a column with a diameter of Φ10 mm ~15 mm.
[0009] In the aforementioned low-cost mass-produced temperature equalizer, there are multiple load-bearing capillary structures, which are distributed in a lattice pattern.
[0010] In the aforementioned low-cost mass-produced heat exchange plate, the heat control working fluid is liquid ammonia.
[0011] A low-cost, mass-production additive manufacturing method for heat spreaders includes: printing heat spreaders onto a substrate using additive manufacturing equipment to obtain an arrangement of heat spreaders on the substrate; wherein the arrangement of heat spreaders on the substrate includes multiple heat spreaders, a substrate, lattice supports, and serrated block supports; wherein the multiple heat spreaders are connected by lattice supports, and the bottom end of each heat spreader is connected to the substrate through the serrated block supports; each heat spreader has a filling hole and a powder outlet hole in its shell; the arrangement of heat spreaders on the substrate is inverted, and each heat spreader is cleaned of powder through the powder outlet hole; the lattice supports and serrated block supports in the arrangement of heat spreaders on the substrate are removed to obtain each heat spreader, and each heat spreader undergoes surface heat treatment; the powder outlet hole of each heat spreader is welded to seal the powder outlet hole, a filling tube is welded to the filling hole of each heat spreader, helium mass spectrometry leak detection is performed, and after passing the test, a thermal control working fluid is filled; and the filling tube is welded and sealed.
[0012] In the above-mentioned low-cost mass production additive manufacturing method for isothermal plates, the heat treatment regime is as follows: temperature is 280℃~300℃, and time is 2h~4h.
[0013] In the aforementioned low-cost, mass production additive manufacturing method for vapor chambers, when performing helium mass spectrometry leak detection, if the leak rate is <10... - 8 If Pa.s. is passed, the test is qualified.
[0014] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following advantages: (1) The present invention has batch forming and batch powder cleaning, with high production efficiency. Multiple heat spreaders are arranged in an array on the substrate, and the heat spreaders are connected by a dot matrix support, which makes it have high overall strength and height, and is suitable for leaving the heat spreaders on the substrate for overall powder cleaning. (2) The present invention has a large powder outlet hole, which is convenient for cleaning powder; the width of the powder outlet hole is the sum of the thickness of the inner cavity of the heat spreader plate and the thickness of the capillary structure on both sides, and is located on one side edge of the heat spreader plate, which can ensure that the residual powder near the powder outlet hole can flow out of the inner cavity without obstruction, thereby improving the powder cleaning efficiency. (3) The dot matrix support between the heat exchange plates and the serrated block support between the heat exchange plate and the substrate can be removed manually, avoiding a special wire cutting process. Attached Figure Description
[0015] Various other advantages and benefits will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the following detailed description of preferred embodiments. The accompanying drawings are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the invention. Furthermore, the same reference numerals denote the same parts throughout the drawings. In the drawings: Figure 1 This is a front view of the heat spreader provided in an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 This is a top view of the heat spreader provided in an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the arrangement and combination device of the heat spreader plate on the substrate provided in the embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation
[0016] Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. While exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are shown in the drawings, it should be understood that the present disclosure may be implemented in various forms and should not be limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided to enable a more thorough understanding of the present disclosure and to fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art. It should be noted that, unless otherwise specified, the embodiments and features described herein can be combined with each other. The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments.
[0017] Figure 1 This is a front view of the heat spreader provided in an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 This is a top view of the heat spreader provided in an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, the low-cost mass-production heat exchanger includes: an outer shell 1, a first mass transfer capillary structure 2, a second mass transfer capillary structure 22, a load-bearing capillary structure 3, and a cavity 4. The first mass transfer capillary structure 2 is attached to the inner side of the upper panel of the outer shell 1; the second mass transfer capillary structure 22 is attached to the inner side of the lower panel of the outer shell 1; one end of the load-bearing capillary structure 3 passes through the first mass transfer capillary structure 2 and connects to the upper panel of the outer shell 1, and the other end of the load-bearing capillary structure 3 passes through the second mass transfer capillary structure 22 and connects to the lower panel of the outer shell 1; a cavity 4 is located between the first mass transfer capillary structure 2, the second mass transfer capillary structure 22, and the load-bearing capillary structure 3; the cavity 4 is filled with a portion of the thermal control working fluid. The thermal control working fluid is liquid ammonia.
[0018] The thickness of the heat spreader is 4mm-5mm. The outer shell 1 is a closed structure with a thickness of 1.0mm-1.5mm. The thickness of the first mass transfer capillary structure 2 is 0.8mm~1.0mm, and the thickness of the second mass transfer capillary structure 22 is 0.8mm~1.0mm. The load-bearing capillary structure 3 is a column with a diameter of Φ10mm~15mm.
[0019] There are multiple load-bearing capillary structures 3, which are distributed in a lattice pattern.
[0020] The vapor chamber structure in this embodiment includes an outer shell, a mass transfer capillary structure, a load-bearing capillary structure, and a cavity. During the additive manufacturing stage, the vapor chamber structure also includes powder outlets and liquid filling holes. After powder cleaning and working fluid filling, the powder outlets and liquid filling holes are welded shut and removed during machining, and are not retained in the final product. The typical thickness of the vapor chamber is approximately 4.5 mm, and the outer shell is a closed structure with a thickness of approximately 1.0 mm to prevent leakage of the internal thermal control working fluid and to withstand a certain internal pressure. The mass transfer capillary structure, acting as a liquid working fluid channel, is generally attached to the inner side of the upper and lower panels of the outer shell, with a typical thickness of 0.8 mm to 1.0 mm. The load-bearing capillary structure, acting as a load-bearing column structure between the upper and lower panels, typically has a column diameter of Φ10 to 15 mm, and its pores also facilitate the transfer of liquid working fluid within the lattice capillaries near the upper and lower panels. The internal cavity serves as a gas channel after the liquid working fluid evaporates.
[0021] This embodiment also provides a low-cost, mass-production additive manufacturing method for heat exchange plates. The method includes: designing a heat exchange plate model in an additive manufacturing equipment; and printing the heat exchange plate model onto a substrate using the additive manufacturing equipment to obtain an arrangement and combination device of heat exchange plates on the substrate; wherein, as shown... Figure 3 As shown, the arrangement of heat spreaders on a substrate includes multiple heat spreaders 100, a substrate 40, a lattice support 20, and a serrated block support 30. The multiple heat spreaders are connected by the lattice support, and the bottom end of each heat spreader is connected to the substrate via the serrated block support. Each heat spreader has a filling hole 6 and a powder outlet hole 5 in its shell. The arrangement of heat spreaders on the substrate is inverted, and each heat spreader is cleaned of powder through the powder outlet hole. The lattice support and serrated block support in the arrangement of heat spreaders on the substrate are removed to obtain each heat spreader, and each heat spreader undergoes surface heat treatment. The powder outlet hole of each heat spreader is welded to seal it, and a filling tube is welded to the filling hole of each heat spreader. Helium mass spectrometry leak detection is performed, and after passing the test, a thermal control working fluid is filled. The filling tube is then welded and sealed. The heat treatment regime is as follows: temperature 280℃~300℃, time 2h~4h. When performing helium mass spectrometry leak detection, if the leak rate is <10 -8 If Pa.s. is passed, the test is qualified.
[0022] In this embodiment, the heat spreader and the additive manufacturing substrate are connected by a serrated block support and can be removed manually; multiple heat spreaders are arranged in an array on the substrate, and the heat spreader components are connected by a dot matrix support; in addition to the liquid filling tube, the top of the heat spreader has a special powder outlet hole at the edge, and the width of the powder outlet hole is equivalent to the thickness of the inner cavity.
[0023] This embodiment features batch forming and batch powder cleaning, resulting in high production efficiency. Multiple heat spreaders are arrayed on the substrate and connected by dot matrix supports, giving them high overall strength and height, making them suitable for leaving the heat spreaders on the substrate for overall powder cleaning. This embodiment has large powder outlet holes for easy powder cleaning. The width of the powder outlet hole is the sum of the inner cavity thickness of the heat spreader and the thickness of the capillary structures on both sides, and it is located on one edge of the heat spreader, ensuring that residual powder near the outlet hole flows out of the inner cavity without obstruction, thus improving powder cleaning efficiency. In this embodiment, the dot matrix supports between the heat spreaders and the serrated block supports between the heat spreader and the substrate can be removed manually, avoiding a dedicated wire cutting process.
[0024] Although the present invention has been disclosed above with reference to preferred embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Any person skilled in the art can make possible changes and modifications to the technical solutions of the present invention by utilizing the methods and techniques disclosed above without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, any simple modifications, equivalent changes and alterations made to the above embodiments based on the technical essence of the present invention without departing from the content of the technical solutions of the present invention shall fall within the protection scope of the technical solutions of the present invention.
Claims
1. A low-cost, mass-producible heat spreader, characterized in that... include: The structure comprises an outer shell (1), a first mass transfer capillary structure (2), a second mass transfer capillary structure (22), a load-bearing capillary structure (3), and a cavity (4); wherein, The first mass transfer capillary structure (2) is attached to the inner side of the upper panel of the outer shell (1); The second mass transfer capillary structure (22) is attached to the inner side of the lower panel of the outer shell (1); One end of the load-bearing capillary structure (3) passes through the first mass transfer capillary structure (2) and is connected to the upper panel of the outer shell (1), and the other end of the load-bearing capillary structure (3) passes through the second mass transfer capillary structure (22) and is connected to the lower panel of the outer shell (1). There is a cavity (4) between the first mass transfer capillary structure (2), the second mass transfer capillary structure (22) and the load-bearing capillary structure (3); The cavity (4) is filled with a portion of the thermal control working fluid.
2. The low-cost mass production heat spreader according to claim 1, characterized in that: The thickness of the heat spreader is 4mm-5mm.
3. The low-cost mass production heat spreader according to claim 1, characterized in that: The outer shell (1) is a closed structure with a thickness of 1.0mm-1.5mm.
4. The low-cost mass production heat spreader according to claim 1, characterized in that: The thickness of the first mass transfer capillary structure (2) is 0.8 mm to 1.0 mm, and the thickness of the second mass transfer capillary structure (22) is 0.8 mm to 1.0 mm.
5. The low-cost mass production heat spreader according to claim 1, characterized in that: The load-bearing capillary structure (3) is a column with a diameter of Φ10 mm ~15 mm.
6. The low-cost mass production heat spreader according to claim 1, characterized in that: The number of load-bearing capillary structures (3) is multiple, and the multiple load-bearing capillary structures (3) are distributed in a lattice pattern.
7. The low-cost mass production heat spreader according to claim 1, characterized in that: The working fluid for thermal control is liquid ammonia.
8. A low-cost, mass-production additive manufacturing method for heat exchange plates, characterized in that... include: Additive manufacturing equipment prints heat spreaders on a substrate to obtain a heat spreader arrangement device on the substrate; wherein, the heat spreader arrangement device on the substrate includes multiple heat spreaders, a substrate, a dot matrix support and a serrated block support; wherein, the multiple heat spreaders are connected to each other through the dot matrix support, the bottom end of each heat spreader is connected to the substrate through the serrated block support, and the shell of each heat spreader has a liquid filling hole and a powder outlet hole. The device for arranging and combining temperature distribution plates on the substrate is inverted, and each temperature distribution plate is cleaned of powder through the powder outlet hole. Each heat exchanger is obtained by removing the lattice support and sawtooth block support in the arrangement and combination device of heat exchangers on the substrate, and each heat exchanger is subjected to surface heat treatment. The powder outlet holes of each heat spreader are welded to seal the powder outlet holes, and the liquid filling holes of each heat spreader are welded with liquid filling tubes. Helium mass spectrometry leak detection is performed. After passing the test, the heat control working fluid is filled. The filling tube is welded and sealed.
9. The low-cost, mass production additive manufacturing method for heat exchange plates according to claim 8, characterized in that: The heat treatment process is as follows: temperature 280℃~300℃, time 2h~4h.
10. The low-cost, mass production additive manufacturing method for heat exchange plates according to claim 8, characterized in that: When performing helium mass spectrometry leak detection, if the leak rate is <10 -8 If Pa.s. is passed, the test is qualified.