Design Development and Characterization of a Flexible Heat Transfer Device

Abstract

Thermal management in compact portable electronics presents critical challenges due to escalating newlinepower densities, stringent design constraints and evolving consumer expectations. As devices shrink newlinein size, traditional cooling methods are nearing their limits because reduced form factors constrain the newlinespace available for conventional cooling systems. This limitation underscores the trade-off between newlinepower, device form factor and cooling efficiency. Moreover, in foldable electronics such as laptops, the newlinepotential space behind the cooling components remains largely untapped due to the challenges involved newlinein developing reliable Flexible Heat Transfer Devices(FHTD). newlineThis thesis provides a comprehensive investigation into the design, development and experimental newlinevalidation of a novel FHTD engineered to meet the cooling demands of modern foldable electronic newlinesystems. The research systematically examines the thermal dynamics of various FHTD configurations newlineunder diverse operational conditions, including multiple heat loads and bending orientations (0°, 45°, newline90° and 180°). The experiments were carried out at steady state conditions. The developed FHTD newlineis indigenous and exhibits modularity in design, which can be employed in a variety of applications newlinedemanding heat transfer with flexibility, including (not limited to) space and electronics industry. newlineA key challenge in conventional flexible heat pipes (FHP) is the infiltration of non-condensable gases. newlineThis investigation begins by analyzing the performance of the initial FHTD configurations, which use newlinewater as the working fluid to mitigate gas permeation. The baseline, Configuration I, features a polymerconnected newlinedesign that establishes fundamental thermal performance parameters. Experimental results newlineshow that this configuration achieves an effective thermal conductivity up to 6.25 times that of conventional newlinecopper thermal straps, reaching a maximum of 2407 W/mK at a 45° bending angle. Building on newlinethese findings, Configuration II incorporates a metallic bellows to improve.