Electrolube Thermal Management Solutions
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Thermal Management Solutions Created to perform when the heat is on Thermal Management Solutions • Silicone & Non-Silicone Pastes • RTVs and Bonding Products • Phase Change Materials • Encapsulation Resins • Silicone & Non-Silicone Gap Pads • 0.9 to 5.5W/m.K During use, some electronic components can generate significant amounts of heat. Failure to effectively dissipate this heat away from the component and the device can lead to reliability concerns and reduced operational lifetimes. Newton’s law of cooling states that the rate of loss Heat sinks have proven to be very effective over the of heat is proportional to the temperature difference years however in order to ensure full contact and between the body and its surroundings. Therefore, therefore maximum efficiency, thermal management as the temperature of the component increases and products are used alongside. reaches its equilibrium temperature, the rate of heat loss Metal surfaces, even when polished to a fine degree, per second will equate to the heat produced per second have a certain amount of roughness. It can therefore within the component. This temperature may be high be deduced that when two metal surfaces are placed enough to significantly shorten the life of the component together contact is not 100% and there will always or even cause the device to fail. It is in such cases that be an air gap between the two surfaces. The use of thermal management measures need to be taken. a thermal interface material (TIM) between such gaps The same considerations can be applied to a complete ensures complete contact between the two surfaces circuit or device which incorporates heat producing and in turn more efficient heat conductance. individual components. The ongoing trend for product miniaturisation – coupled Heat is lost from a component to its surroundings at with more modern, higher powered devices – has the surface of the component. The rate of loss of heat ensured that efficient thermal management is an will increase with the surface area of the component; essential part of both modern and future electronics a small device producing 10 watts will reach a higher design, the LED lighting market being just one temperature than a similar powered device with a larger example. Thermal management products are also surface area. offering solutions for greater efficiency in green energy This is where heat sinks are used – varying in size development; photovoltaic inverters – which are known and shape, heat sinks can be designed to offer a to be particularly sensitive to temperature; connections significantly increased surface area to maximise heat between the heat-pipe and water storage tank for solar- dissipation. They are typically connected to components heating applications; hydrogen fuel cells; wind power which generate a large amount of thermal energy when generators, are just a few examples. used and therefore dissipate such energy away from the device to avoid failure due to over-heating. 2 Thermal Pastes Thermally conductive pastes consist of thermally conductive fillers in a carrier fluid. Thermal pastes do not cure; therefore, they offer the best solution when rework is important and provide versatility by avoiding geometrical restrictions affecting cure. Silicone and Silicone-Free Electrolube offers silicone and non-silicone thermal Such issues are due to the migration of low molecular pastes. The silicone products offer a higher upper weight siloxanes; these volatile species can lower the temperature limit of 200˚C and a lower viscosity system, surface tension of a substrate, making them extremely due to the silicone base oil used. difficult to clean or adhere to. In addition, the migration of low molecular weight siloxanes can lead to failures The use of products based on, or containing, silicone in electronic applications, through the formation of may not be authorised in certain applications. This insulative byproducts. could be due to a number of factors, for instance certain electronic applications or where problems exhibited in Electrolube products are formulated from raw materials cleaning or adhesive processes are observed. specifically designed for the electronics industry. Thus, silicone containing products are only utilised where the low molecular weight fractions are monitored and kept to an absolute minimum. As an alternative, a range of non-silicone products are also provided for critical applications. The ‘Plus’ Range Electrolube’s ‘Plus’ range contains a specialist blend of fillers carefully designed to achieve an optimised particle size combination and therefore can achieve higher thermal conductivity values than the Electrolube standard range. 3 The ‘Xtra’ Range Electrolube’s ‘Xtra’ range of thermal products are The following graph shows the effects of humidity (168 enhanced versions of the non-silicone products HTC hours, 25°C, 90% RH) and thermal cycling (25 cycles and HTCP. These ‘X’ versions are manufactured between -25°C and 65°C) on HTC and HTCX. using one of the company’s proprietary technologies The results show that the rheology of HTC changes after and possess the following benefits with almost no exposure to such conditions and as a result the viscosity compromise in usability and viscosity: an increase in the also increases with increasing shear rate, exhibiting comparative thermal conductivity, lower oil bleed and dilatant behaviour. lower evaporation weight loss. HTCPX is mainly used as a gap filler and has been approved by one of the top HTCX however shows greater stability under such manufacturers in the automotive industry. conditions with the rheology and viscosity remaining unchanged after the exposure. HTCX exhibits The ‘Xtra’ range of products are also more resistant to pseudoplastic behaviour; decreasing viscosity with humidity and thermal cycling (rapid changes in heating increasing shear rate. and cooling) than the standard range. RHEOLOGY OF HTC AND HTCX BEFORE AND AFTER HUMIDITY AND THERMAL CYCLING TESTING 500 450 400 350 250 T(Pa) 200 150 100 50 0 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 D (1/s) HTC BEFORE HTCX BEFORE HTC AFTER HTCX AFTER 4 Phase-Change Materials Phase-Change Material Phase change materials have been designed to combine occurs. Once this temperature is reached, the ability of the very low thermal resistance achieved using a thermal the phase change material to become softer allows the paste, with the stability of a cured or solid material, such product to fully conform to the contours of the substrate, as an RTV or gap pad. Their name is derived from their filling in the interface at a minimal bond line thickness. properties during use, changing state from a solid to a This in turn, results in very low thermal resistance and liquid and back again depending on the temperature of maximise the efficiency of heat transfer. the application. Each phase change material will have its’ own softening temperature, at which the change of state Product Bulk Thermal Conductivity Thermal Resistance (W/m K) (˚C in2/W) TPM350 3.50 0.026 TPM550 5.50 0.012 Phase change materials can be applied in a number as pump-out, commonly seen with non-curing thermal of ways; the most convenient being a screen printing management materials. technique. In this application method, a phase change The stability of Electrolube’s phase change product, material containing a small amount of solvent is spread TPM350, during thermal cycling is shown in the graph across a screen to deposit the desired thickness of below. This test was conducted on a Thermal Test material to the substrate. The solvent quickly evaporates Vehicle (TTV) using a Power Cycle Test, delivering a leaving a firm paste behind at the interface. As the change in temperature from room temperature to 95˚C. temperature increases, the material absorbs heat until Each cycle includes 12 min power heating and 8min it reaches its softening point and upon cooling reverts cooling. A total of 1000 cycles were conducted and back to a firm paste again. Due to the stability of results showed good stability of the TPM350 throughout phase change materials during frequent temperature the duration of this test. changes, the materials are resistant to problems such TPM Thermal Reliability Result By TTV Power Cycle Test Normalised Thermal Resistance Cycles 5 Gap Pads Thermal gap pads are used in place of traditional maximum contact with the gap pad. The pressure thermal interface materials (TIMs) such as a thermal forces the pad material into the air pockets, more paste or RTV. The main benefit of gap pads is that they effectively reducing the thermal resistance. The thermal offer a quick and easy application method, requiring resistance achieved will not match that of a thermal minimal training for the operator and without the mess paste however. sometimes associated with a paste, grease or bonding Similar to thermal pastes, Electrolube’s gap pads are product. In addition, they do not require the use of available in both silicone and non-silicone options, expensive dispensing machines and can easily be offering a range of performance requirements and applied via a manual process. meeting the demand for high temperature applications. Gap pads are often cut to size to fit the requirements of Despite not meeting the same levels of efficiency on the specific interface application. They work in a similar initial application, a gap pad may outperform a thermal manner to other TIMs, filling the small gaps and pockets paste under certain conditions. As the gap pad is a between the two surfaces. As they cannot be applied formed material, it does not move during thermal cycling in such a thin film as a thermal paste for example, they and therefore does not experience the same pump-out often provide a much thicker interface; pads thus work issues that can be seen with some thermal pastes in best for applications where there is a pressure exerted rapidly changing thermal environments.