Rack-Mountable Tray Cooling With Fluid Circulation and Thermal Pads
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional cooling systems for information handling systems, such as rack-mountable trays, face challenges in providing uniform cooling and energy efficiency due to inadequate thermal management.
Innovation Solution
A rack-mountable tray with a plurality of bays, each equipped with a thermal pad, and a fluid circulation system that circulates water-based fluid to transfer heat from computing modules through the thermal pads, enhancing cooling efficiency and energy efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If traditional cooling systems are used for rack-mountable trays, then the system structure is simple, but uniform cooling is not provided and energy efficiency is poor
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system is segmented into multiple independent thermal zones, with each bay equipped with its own thermal pad and fluid circulation pathways. This segmentation allows each computing module to be cooled independently and uniformly, addressing the non-uniform cooling issue while maintaining energy efficiency through targeted cooling only where needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a fluid circulation system that uses hydraulic principles to transfer heat from computing modules through thermal pads. The fluid circulation enables efficient heat transfer and uniform cooling distribution across all bays, resolving both the cooling uniformity and energy efficiency challenges of traditional air-based cooling systems.
2Reliability
If traditional cooling systems are used, then the device complexity is low, but thermal management is inadequate
Solution Approach 1:
Thermal pads are introduced as intermediary components between computing modules and the fluid circulation system. These thermal pads facilitate efficient heat transfer from the computing modules to the cooling fluid, significantly improving thermal management while keeping the overall system architecture relatively simple and modular.
3Temperature
If uniform cooling is implemented across all bays, then cooling effectiveness is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The tray design incorporates universal cooling components that can serve multiple bays simultaneously. The fluid circulation system is designed with common manifolds and distributed thermal pads that provide uniform cooling across all bays through a single integrated system, achieving cooling uniformity without proportionally increasing device complexity.
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 solution provides uniform cooling and improved energy efficiency by effectively transferring heat from computing modules to the fluid circulation system, addressing the limitations of traditional cooling systems.
Implementation Method 1
one or more of the thermal pads are in thermal communication with a respective computing module... circulating fluid proximate to the thermal pads to transfer heat from the computing modules through the thermal pads
Implementation Method 2
fluid circulation system circulating fluid proximate to the thermal pads to transfer heat from the computing modules through the thermal pads
Data Source
AI summary
An information handling system, including a plurality of computing modules; a rack-mountable tray including: a plurality of bays, each bay including a thermal pad, wherein i) each computing module is engaged with one or more of the bays of the plurality of bays and ii) one or more of the thermal pads are in thermal communication with a respective computing module of the plurality of computing modules; and a fluid circulation system positioned within the tray and coupled to each of the thermal pads, the fluid circulation system circulating fluid proximate to the thermal pads to transfer heat from the computing modules through the thermal pads.