Investigation of thermal transport across volume-controlled thermal interface materials

For thermal management, thermal interface materials are essential to reduce parasitic thermal resistance by filling microscopic gaps at interface. While much of previous research has focused on enhancing the thermal conductivity of the materials, the inconsistency in experimental data limits fundame...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jungmin Lee, Woosung Park
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-05-01
Series:Polymer Testing
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0142941825000947
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849729789689069568
author Jungmin Lee
Woosung Park
author_facet Jungmin Lee
Woosung Park
author_sort Jungmin Lee
collection DOAJ
description For thermal management, thermal interface materials are essential to reduce parasitic thermal resistance by filling microscopic gaps at interface. While much of previous research has focused on enhancing the thermal conductivity of the materials, the inconsistency in experimental data limits fundamental investigation in the thermal interface materials. In this work, we use a screen printing and pressing method to apply thermal interface material in a consistent manner, enabling fundamental investigation to identify an optimal bond line thickness for thermal interface material. Specifically, we apply two-dimensional array of cylindrical pillars and modulate its diameter and pitch to find an optimal volume experimentally. The thermal resistance is measured using a standard thermal interface test method, and an optimal volume of thermal interface material is experimentally determined. We apply a rheological model for the thermal interface material to estimate the optimal bond line thickness under pressure, and the model prediction agrees with experimental data within ∼89.4 %. This work establishes an experimental methodology for thermal interface material, bridging a gap between its theoretical and practical approaches.
format Article
id doaj-art-29efdeaca76a4fd897b80c8ddff4e1c8
institution DOAJ
issn 1873-2348
language English
publishDate 2025-05-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series Polymer Testing
spelling doaj-art-29efdeaca76a4fd897b80c8ddff4e1c82025-08-20T03:09:04ZengElsevierPolymer Testing1873-23482025-05-0114610878010.1016/j.polymertesting.2025.108780Investigation of thermal transport across volume-controlled thermal interface materialsJungmin Lee0Woosung Park1School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafeyette, IN, 47907, United StatesSchool of Mechanical Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul, 04763, South Korea; Corresponding author.For thermal management, thermal interface materials are essential to reduce parasitic thermal resistance by filling microscopic gaps at interface. While much of previous research has focused on enhancing the thermal conductivity of the materials, the inconsistency in experimental data limits fundamental investigation in the thermal interface materials. In this work, we use a screen printing and pressing method to apply thermal interface material in a consistent manner, enabling fundamental investigation to identify an optimal bond line thickness for thermal interface material. Specifically, we apply two-dimensional array of cylindrical pillars and modulate its diameter and pitch to find an optimal volume experimentally. The thermal resistance is measured using a standard thermal interface test method, and an optimal volume of thermal interface material is experimentally determined. We apply a rheological model for the thermal interface material to estimate the optimal bond line thickness under pressure, and the model prediction agrees with experimental data within ∼89.4 %. This work establishes an experimental methodology for thermal interface material, bridging a gap between its theoretical and practical approaches.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0142941825000947Thermal interface materialThermal contact resistanceRheologyHeat conduction
spellingShingle Jungmin Lee
Woosung Park
Investigation of thermal transport across volume-controlled thermal interface materials
Polymer Testing
Thermal interface material
Thermal contact resistance
Rheology
Heat conduction
title Investigation of thermal transport across volume-controlled thermal interface materials
title_full Investigation of thermal transport across volume-controlled thermal interface materials
title_fullStr Investigation of thermal transport across volume-controlled thermal interface materials
title_full_unstemmed Investigation of thermal transport across volume-controlled thermal interface materials
title_short Investigation of thermal transport across volume-controlled thermal interface materials
title_sort investigation of thermal transport across volume controlled thermal interface materials
topic Thermal interface material
Thermal contact resistance
Rheology
Heat conduction
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0142941825000947
work_keys_str_mv AT jungminlee investigationofthermaltransportacrossvolumecontrolledthermalinterfacematerials
AT woosungpark investigationofthermaltransportacrossvolumecontrolledthermalinterfacematerials