Elastic Cooling Pipe Assembly for Gap-Free Thermal Contact
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional liquid cooling modules for electronic devices face inefficiencies due to air gaps between thermally conductive plates and cooling pipes, leading to increased thermal resistance and difficulties in installation and maintenance, which can damage electronic components.
Innovation Solution
A cooling assembly featuring elastically deformable cooling pipes that adapt to the uneven surfaces of electronic modules, ensuring full thermal contact through pressure-induced deformation, eliminating air gaps and enhancing heat dissipation efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If thermally conductive plates are adhered on electronic modules in advance to facilitate installation, then ease of installation is improved, but air gaps form between the plates and cooling pipes due to uneven surfaces, increasing thermal resistance
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling pipe is designed with elastic deformability, allowing it to dynamically adapt its shape to match the uneven surface of the thermally conductive plate. This dynamic characteristic enables the cooling pipe to maintain intimate thermal contact despite surface irregularities, eliminating air gaps while preserving ease of installation.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling pipe's physical parameters (shape, contact pressure) are changed through elastic deformation to accommodate the uneven surface topology. By allowing the pipe to deform and conform to the plate's surface variations, optimal thermal contact is achieved without requiring perfect surface flatness or complex assembly procedures.
2Reliability
If thermally conductive plates are made thicker to enable tight contact with cooling pipes, then thermal contact quality is improved, but installation and maintenance become troublesome and ICs may be damaged
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using thick rigid plates, the invention employs thin plates combined with an elastic cooling pipe. The pipe's deformability compensates for the reduced plate thickness, allowing tight thermal contact to be achieved through the pipe's ability to conform to surface variations rather than relying on plate thickness.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling pipe acts as a flexible element that adapts to the thermally conductive plate's surface. This flexible approach replaces the need for thick rigid plates, enabling effective thermal contact while maintaining ease of installation and maintenance, and preventing damage to underlying ICs.
3Ease of manufacture
If conventional rigid cooling pipes are used with uneven electronic module surfaces, then manufacturing simplicity is maintained, but air gaps increase thermal resistance and reduce heat dissipation efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling pipe's physical state is changed from rigid to elastic, allowing it to deform and conform to uneven surfaces. This parameter change enables the pipe to eliminate air gaps and improve thermal contact while maintaining manufacturing simplicity through the use of elastic materials and straightforward assembly processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling pipe is constructed from elastic materials that combine thermal conductivity with deformability. This composite characteristic allows the pipe to maintain structural integrity while adapting its shape to match the thermally conductive plate's surface, ensuring efficient heat dissipation without complex manufacturing.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The elastically deformable cooling pipes effectively reduce thermal resistance, facilitate easy installation and maintenance, and prevent component damage, while significantly improving heat dissipation performance.
Implementation Method 1
the pipe wall of the at least one cooling pipe is elastically deformable in response to a pressure variation in the fluid channel
Implementation Method 2
transmit heat generated by the memory 8 to the cooling pipes 71 via the thermally conductive plates 73
Data Source
AI summary
A cooling assembly is configured for at least one electronic module. The cooling assembly includes at least one thermally conductive plate and at least one cooling pipe. The thermally conductive plate is configured to be attached on one surface of the electronic module. The cooling pipe is configured to be in thermal contact with one side of the thermally conductive plate located farther away from the electronic module. The cooling pipe comprises a pipe wall, and the pipe wall surrounds and forms a fluid channel. The pipe wall of the at least one cooling pipe has a thermally conductive characteristic, and the pipe wall of the at least one cooling pipe is elastically deformable in response to a pressure variation in the fluid channel.