Influence of temperature and aging on the thermal contact resistance in thermoelectric devices
Fecha
2020Autor
Versión
Acceso abierto / Sarbide irekia
Tipo
Artículo / Artikulua
Versión
Versión aceptada / Onetsi den bertsioa
Impacto
|
10.1007/s11664-020-08015-y
Resumen
During thermal design in the first phases development, thermoelectric systems, such as thermoelectric generators, the most important parameter affecting the performance is thermal resistance of the components. This paper focusses on the thermal contact resistance (TCR), analyzing the influence of aging and temperature on different thermal interface materials (TIMs), i.e., thermal paste, graphite ...
[++]
During thermal design in the first phases development, thermoelectric systems, such as thermoelectric generators, the most important parameter affecting the performance is thermal resistance of the components. This paper focusses on the thermal contact resistance (TCR), analyzing the influence of aging and temperature on different thermal interface materials (TIMs), i.e., thermal paste, graphite and indium. In previous papers, TCR has been studied depending on parameters such as surface roughness, bonding pressure, thermal conductivity and surface hardness. However, in thermoelectric applications, a relevant aspect to consider when choosing a TIM is aging due to thermal stress. The exposure of this type of material to high temperatures for long periods of time leads to deterioration, which causes an increase in the TCR impairing the conduction of the heat flow. Therefore, there is a need to study the behavior of TIMs exposed to temperatures typical in thermoelectric generators to make a correct selection of the TIM. It has been observed that exposure to temperatures of around 180°C induces a significant increase in the thermal impedance of the three TIMs under study, although this effect is much more relevant for thermal paste. The contact, comprising steel, thermal paste and ceramic, presents a 300% increase in the thermal impedance after 70 days of aging, whereas that exceeds 185% for the contact of aluminum, thermal paste and ceramic. In the tests with exposure temperature of 60°C, there is no observed decrease in the thermal impedance. [--]
Materias
Thermal contact resistance,
Thermoelectric devices,
Thermal interface material,
Thermal aging,
Ceramic steel contact,
Ceramic aluminum contact
Editor
Springer
Publicado en
Journal of Electronic Materials, 2020, 49, 2943-2953
Departamento
Universidad Pública de Navarra. Departamento de Ingeniería /
Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa. Ingeniaritza Saila /
Universidad Pública de Navarra/Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa. Institute of Smart Cities - ISC
Versión del editor
Entidades Financiadoras
The authors are indebted to the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, and the European Regional Development Fund for economic support to this work, included in the RTI2018-093501-B-C22 research project.