Graphite foam for cooling of automotive power electronics

Author

White, Steve B. ; Gallego, Nidia C. ; Johnson, Daniel D. ; Pipe, Kevin ; Shih, Albert J. ; Jih, Edward

Author_Institution

Dept. of Mech. Eng., Michigan Univ., Ann Arbor, MI, USA

fYear

2004

fDate

21-22 Oct. 2004

Firstpage

61

Lastpage

65

Abstract

Hybrid and fuel cell vehicles utilize the Si-based IGBT (Integrated Gate Bipolar Transistor) controller which must dissipate about 100 W/cm² heat and maintain a temperature below 125 °C. The application of porous, high thermal conductivity carbon foam, a new class of advanced lightweight material, to the thermal management of this electronic system and the use of micro- and nano-scale thermal measurement methods for analyzing thermal transport in electronics are presented. Development of advanced carbon foam with different pore structure by variation of the foaming pressure is discussed. The use of carbon foam to remove the heat generated in power electronics has been studied in three approaches: 1) forced air convection, 2) water cooled heat exchanger, and 3) evaporative cooling.

Keywords

automotive electronics; cooling; evaporation; foams; forced convection; fuel cell vehicles; graphite; heat exchangers; hybrid electric vehicles; insulated gate bipolar transistors; temperature measurement; thermal conductivity; thermal management (packaging); Si-based IGBT; automotive power electronics; carbon foam; cooling; electronic system; evaporative cooling; foaming pressure; forced air convection; graphite foam; heat dissipation; hybrid fuel cell vehicles; integrated gate bipolar transistor controller; lightweight material; micro scale thermal measurement methods; nano-scale thermal measurement methods; thermal conductivity; thermal transport; water cooled heat exchanger; Automotive engineering; Bipolar transistors; Electronics cooling; Fuel cell vehicles; Insulated gate bipolar transistors; Power electronics; Temperature control; Thermal conductivity; Thermal management of electronics; Water heating;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Power Electronics in Transportation, 2004

Print_ISBN

0-7803-8538-1

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/PET.2004.1393797

Filename

1393797