The subject matter disclosed herein generally relates to heat exchangers and, more particularly, to heat exchangers and processes for forming the same.
Cold plate heat exchangers may be used to cool electronic components that are mounted thereto. In some electronics, the heat exchangers and thermal flow paths may be built into a structure that allows mounting of the electronics to be cooled. Current manufacturing processes for the cold plate style heat exchanger structures may involve multiple processes. The operations and processes of current manufacturing techniques may include machining, brazing, etc. along with multiple additional components, including fasteners, washers, etc.
According to one embodiment a cold plate assembly is provided having a base defining a cooling channel and a heat exchanger friction-stir welded to the base, wherein the heat exchanger is located within a portion of the cooling channel, and the friction-stir welding between the heat exchanger and the base forms a fluid seal.
According to another embodiment, a cold plate assembly is provided as shown and described herein.
According to another embodiment, a method of manufacturing a cold plate assembly is provided as shown and described herein.
According to another embodiment, a cold plate assembly as formed as shown and described herein is provided.
Technical effects of embodiments of the present disclosure include a modular formed cold plate heat exchanger. Other technical effects include the elimination of brazing during heat exchanger manufacture along with the elimination of added parts that may have previously been required.
The subject matter is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed at the conclusion of the specification. The foregoing and other features, and advantages of the present disclosure are apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
As shown and described herein, various features of the disclosure will be presented. Various embodiments may have the same or similar features and thus the same or similar features may be labeled with the same reference numeral, but preceded by a different first number indicating the figure to which the feature is shown. Thus, for example, element “a” that is shown in
Formed between the component 106 and the cold plate 104 may be a thermal interface 108. The thermal interface 108 is a joined surface between the component 106 and the cold plate 104 and enables the heat exchanger 100 to provide thermal cooling to the component 106. For example, working or operating fluid may pass through the heat exchanger 100 (and through the fin core 102 thereof) and heat or thermal energy may be passed from the component 106, through the thermal interface 108, and into the operating fluid that is passing through the channels formed by the fins 104 of the fin core 102. The heat exchanger 100 and cold plate 104 may be part of a cold plate assembly.
Traditionally, the heat exchanger 100 is placed into and brazed as part of the flow path 112 and within a cooling channel in a cold plate assembly. The heat exchanger 100 may be vacuum brazed with an integrated lanced offset fin section that is then placed into the cooling channels of the cold plate assembly 110. After placement, the heat exchanger 100 may be brazed in place. The heat exchanger 100, in some configurations, may further be bolted into place and be surrounded by an O-ring or other type of seal that is configured to provide a fluid seal to keep the operating fluid within the fin core 100. That is, additional hardware may be required to provide a proper connection and fluid seal between the heat exchanger and the cold plate assembly.
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Complex cold plate assemblies for large power motor controllers have high density fin cores for enhanced thermal management. These cold plates are typically vacuum brazed. This manufacturing process is expensive. In addition, the high heat flux components such as insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) modules are mounted with thermal grease or other interface material between base plate and cold plate. In other configurations, a power module with fins is used with O-rings to eliminate thermal interface between the cold plate and an IGBT module. Embodiments provided herein are directed to an improved cold plate assembly and methods of manufacture. For example, a manufacturing method is provided herein where an IGBT module is integrally joined to a cold plate (e.g., by friction stir welding), thus eliminating the thermal interface. In addition, an interleaved machined fin structure is provided herein to replace lanced offset fin cores which provides adequate heat transfer co-efficient x-area to both sides of a cold plate.
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As shown in
In some embodiments, a component may then be attached or connected to the heat exchanger at portion 322. In other embodiments, the portion 322 may represent the component itself. That is, in some embodiments, the fins of the heat exchanger may be formed integral with or attached directly to a component which may then be directly attached to the case 318.
In accordance with embodiments disclosed herein, the portions of the cover (cover 320, portion 322 (whether as a separate heat exchanger or as a component), etc.) may be friction-stir welded directly to the base 318. That is, cold plate machining may be used to create cooling channels within the base 318 into which pre-fabricated heat exchanger elements or sections (e.g., portion 322) may be placed. Once placed, the heat exchanger element may be friction-stir welded into or onto the base 318 of the cold plate assembly 310. The other portions of the cover 320, such as a lid or multiple lids, may be placed over channels formed in the base 318 of the cold plate assembly 310 and may also be friction-stir welded into place to create the internal cooling channels of the cold plate assembly 310.
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As will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, although the modular heat exchanger 550 is shown with a rectangular or square geometry with a top and a bottom, other configurations of modular heat exchangers may be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. That is, any geometry, shape, size, etc. may be used for the heat exchanger, and further, the top and/or bottom may be omitted based on the configuration and needs of a particular design. Thus,
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In some embodiments of the present disclosure, modified fin densities can be employed. For example, similar to the embodiments of
Advantageously, embodiments described herein provide a cold plate assembly that is friction-stir welded. By having friction-stir welded components, embodiments disclosed herein may enabled modular components, including modular heat exchanger components, without added expense, costs, manufacturing times, or other impacts. For example, that may be significant lead-time reductions as compared to traditional cold plate assembly manufacturing processes. Further, there may be significant cost savings, by reducing the number of parts, components, operations, processes, etc. Moreover, the friction-stir welding process may enable joining of covers/heat exchangers with a base without the need for fillers, fasteners, etc.
Further, advantageously, in accordance with some embodiments, the heat exchanger may be formed integral or attached with the component to which it is designed to cool, and thus enable optimized thermal transfer. Further, the entire component (component with attached or integral heat exchanger) may be friction-stir welded into the cold plate to thus form an inseparable assembly.
Further, advantageously, a friction-stir welded cold plate assembly as described herein may enable a strong metallurgic bond to be formed between the friction-stir welded components, thus provided a fluid seal. Accordingly, advantageously, O-rings and other seals and/or bonding or fastening elements may be eliminated during the manufacturing process.
Moreover, advantageously, various embodiments provided herein can allow the elimination of thermal interface between power modules and cold plates. Removal of the thermal interface may enable temperature reductions of the power module. Accordingly, power modules as prepared in accordance with the present disclosure may have increased reliability. In addition, advantageously, embodiments provided herein can eliminate vacuum brazing and potentially reduce cold plate cost.
While the present disclosure has been described in detail in connection with only a limited number of embodiments, it should be readily understood that the present disclosure is not limited to such disclosed embodiments. Rather, the present disclosure can be modified to incorporate any number of variations, alterations, substitutions, combinations, sub-combinations, or equivalent arrangements not heretofore described, but which are commensurate with the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Additionally, while various embodiments of the present disclosure have been described, it is to be understood that aspects of the present disclosure may include only some of the described embodiments.
For example, although shown and described with respect to a particular shape and design for a heat exchanger, those of skill in the art will appreciate that any shape, design, configuration, or geometry may be used for the modular heat exchanger. Further, as described, the heat exchanger may be formed as attached to or integral with the component that is configured to be cooled. The unitary component-heat exchanger may then be installed into an appropriate portion of a fluid channel and then friction-stir welded into place to form a sealed, secure assembly.
Accordingly, the present disclosure is not to be seen as limited by the foregoing description, but is only limited by the scope of the appended claims.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/173,119 entitled “Modular Heat Exchanger Design”, filed Jun. 9, 2016, under 35 U.S.C. §119(e), and which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 62173119 | Jun 2015 | US |
Child | 15177559 | US |