Thermal-fluid dynamic FEM simulation of advanced water cold plates for power electronics

The aim of this work is to develop a thermal-fluid dynamic FE model, accurate enough to be used for liquid heatsink design. Power electronic converters such as those for High Energy Physics Experiments (HEPEs) or offshore renewable energy systems, must operate in hostile environment with tight thermal constraints. Due to the high power density, the presence of closed environments and the requirement of non-thermal interaction with other subsystems, a liquid cooling system is mandatory. 3D FEM simulation can be used to analyze thermal fluid dynamic behaviour of those systems and can be a useful support for designing heat sinks optimized for specific applications. The paper ends with a comparison between two different water cold plates conceived on purpose for a particular power electronic converter.