FEM Analysis of 3D Printable Finned Metal Liquid Cold Plates for Semiconductor Power Modules

This paper shows FEM analysis of water-cooled metal cold plates for high power devices and modules, comparing a traditionally manufactured serpentine-channel design with a 3D-printed thin-fin block design. Fully coupled 3D thermo-fluid-dynamics FEM simulations are performed on the traditional cold plate (TCP) and on the finned-geometry 3D printable (FG3D) cold plate. The FEM model is previously validated through comparison with thermal maps measured by IR imaging. The simulations show better cooling performance of the FG3D solution in comparison with the TCP solution, at similar values of the water pressure drop (i.e., using the same pumping system). In particular, the FG3D cold plate outperforms the TCP at low water flow rates and low pressure drops, i.e., under optimal conditions for hydraulically seriesconnected heat sinks. The performance of the FG3D cold plate is also studied numerically over a range of water flow rate and water box height values. Our study indicate that 3D-printed designs are very interesting for power semiconductor heat sinks, thanks to improved performance and the absence of reliability critical welded interfaces.