Effect of orientation for phase change material (PCM)-based heat sinks for transient thermal management of electric components

Phase change material (PCM)-based heat sink, consisting of a conventional, extruded aluminum sink embedded with appropriate PCMs, can potentially be used for cooling of mobile electronic devices such as personal digital assistants (PDAs) and notebooks which are operated intermittently. During the use of such mobile devices, the orientation changes from time to time. A numerical investigation was carried out to study the effect of orientation of heat sink on the thermal performance of the combined cooling system to determine if it affects the thermal performance of a PCM-based cooling system significantly.