Liquid Cold Plates
How to choose a suitable liquid cooling plates for your project depends on the chip's heating power, as well as the corresponding size ,making process and material. These are all system level design solutions. Perhaps, we are the system level design supplier for the cooling field that you just need.
What Is A Liquid Cold Plate?
Liquid Cold Plates are a type of heat exchanger that is used to efficiently dissipate heat from electronic components. The Liquid cold plate is made up of a plate that is typically made of aluminum or copper, which has microchannels etched into its surface. These microchannels are designed to allow a liquid coolant to flow through them, making direct contact with the plate’s surface.For an effective heat dissipation solution, a liquid cold plate can be utilized.We can provide you with professional production and customized design.At the same time, it is also the highest cost-effective for any cold plate solutions.
The liquid coolant is typically a mixture of water and a corrosion inhibitor, and it is pumped through the Liquid cold palte by a circulation system. As the coolant flows through the microchannels, it absorbs heat from the electronic components that are mounted on the surface of the plate. The heat is then carried away from the cold plate by the coolant, which is typically cooled by a separate heat exchanger or chiller.
The liquid coolant is typically a mixture of water and a corrosion inhibitor, and it is pumped through the Liquid cold palte by a circulation system. As the coolant flows through the microchannels, it absorbs heat from the electronic components that are mounted on the surface of the plate. The heat is then carried away from the cold plate by the coolant, which is typically cooled by a separate heat exchanger or chiller.
Liquid cold plates are particularly effective at cooling high-power electronic components that generate a lot of heat. They are commonly used in applications such as power electronics, laser systems, and high-performance computing. The use of liquid cold plate allows for more efficient cooling, which can lead to increased performance, reliability, and lifespan of electronic components. The mor informations about FAQs when designing liquid cold plates.
How Many Processes Can be Used for Liquid Cold Plate?
Generally speaking, there are various processes for liquid cooled plates, and the final choice of which process depends on the customer’s choice. Each of these processes has its own advantages and disadvantages.
The Friction Stirring Welding process is a unique feature of this process, which involves CNC machining the flow channel and then connecting the cover plate and bottom plate of the cold plate with mechanical force. The advantage is that there is no mold cost, the number of orders does not need to be too large, and the disadvantage is that the unit price is high and the CNC processing time is long.
Copper tube embeded into aluminum base process
The process of embedding copper tubess into aluminum plates is a liquid cooled plate that can be bent into regular flow channels according to different diameters of copper pipes, and then folded and bent according to the position of the heat source. These copper pipes are then pressed into the aluminum plate by stamping. Of course, the aluminum plate is machined into grooves by CNC according to the diameter size of the copper tube channel is single, and complex microchannels cannot be completed..The characteristic of this type of cold plate is that the process is simple, and it can resist corrosion and prevent oxidation, The disadvantage is that the flow channel is single, and complex microchannels cannot be completed.
Brazing process is used to fuse aluminum or copper under high temperature and flux conditions in a vacuum state. The advantage of this product is its low cost, which requires a large production quantity.At the same time, the mold cost is also relatively expensive, and this process is usually used for the water-cooled plate of battery packs and the system heat dissipation of power batteries.
Of course, there are other processes, such as deep hole drilling process cold plate, profile process cold plate, Stamping liquid cold plates etc. These are all good processes for the production of liquid cooled plates.The final suitable process should meet the customer’s needs and the application conditions and environment of the product itself.
How to Choose a Suitable Liquid Cold Plate Process Based on Chips With Different Power Levels
Friction Stiring Welding Liquid Cold Plate
A very high reliability of liquid cooled plate production process, friction stir welding process, its stable process, high production efficiency, it is the first choice for the production of high power chipsets cooling solutions.The friction stir welding method is the same as conventional friction welding. Friction stir welding also uses friction heat and plastic deformation heat as welding heat sources. The difference is that friction stir welding involves an welding pin, a cylinder or other shape (such as a threaded cylinder), being inserted into the joint of the workpiece. The pin is rubbed against the welding material by rotating the welding head at high speed. The material at the joint is heated and softened. At the same time to the material friction stir to complete the welding. The welding process is shown in the figure. In the welding process, the workpiece should be rigidly fixed on the back pad, the welding head side rotates at a high speed, and the joints along the workpiece move relative to the workpiece. The protruding section of the welding head is inserted into the inside of the material for friction and agitation. The shoulder of the welding head and the workpiece surface friction generate heat, and is used to prevent the overflow of the material in the plastic state, and can play the role of removing the oxide film on the surface.
Brazing Liquid Cold Plate
Our Brazing Liquid Cold Plates deliver exceptional structural integrity and fluid tightness. Using a high-precision brazing process, we ensure optimal thermal performance, delivering a robust solution for high heat-flux applications. These plates stand up to demanding conditions, making them a trusted choice in industries like automotive and telecommunications.The liquid cooling plate of this process is usually used in computer servers, cloud computing and other chips that require high-density heat dissipation. Its biggest advantage is that it can use micro channels to exchange a large amount of heat.
Brazing adopts alloy with melting point lower than the base metal as brazing filler metal, when heating, the filler metal melts, and by wetting and capillary action filled and kept in the joint gap, and the base metal is in solid state, relying on the mutual diffusion between liquid filler metal and solid base metal to form brazing joints. This kind of liquid cooled plate is generally used for server CPU cold plates, all aluminum liquid cooled plate production, all copper liquid cooled plate, etc
Copper Tube Liquid Cold Plate
Our Copper Tube Liquid Cold Plates offer a versatile solution for diverse cooling needs. Combining high thermal conductivity of copper with efficient tube design, these plates provide uniform cooling, crucial in high-performance applications. They ensure effective heat removal, helping your systems deliver consistent performance under varying loads.The liquid cooled plate of this process uses copper material with thermal conductivity greater than 380W (m/k) as the flow channel, and it can also use stainless steel material or high carbon steel material as the flow channel. It has very high anti-corrosion ability. It is a good process for the use of special environment or anti-corrosion requirements.
Each process has its own advantages and disadvantages. For the customer’s engineers, it is particularly important to choose the right water cooling plate for their own products. Therefore, if you choose to cooperate with us, our professional engineers will design with you to provide the best design scheme and low-cost products. We provide professional reference opinions to you, such as flow velocity, flow resistance and pressure holding capacity, which are the key factors for the stable operation of subsequent products during operation.
Extrusion Liquid Cold Plate
Profile process of liquid cold plate, generally speaking, used for a large area of heat source heat dissipation, such as energy storage battery, power battery, because these heating sources are very regular arrangement, at the same time the area of the heating source is large, this time can be used in the way of profile process, make water channel, and then CNC processing of the two end faces of the water cold plate, This creates an inlet and outlet channel, which is then cooled by a cooling system.The biggest advantage of this water-cooled plate is that it can be designed arbitrarily, rather than CNC processing, so the cost is relatively low.The length of the liquid cooled plate can be cut arbitrarily based on the size of the battery module.Similarly, due to the limitation of the width of the profiles, we can weld the two profiles through the friction stir welding process, that is, splicing together. The advantage of this is that the size of the width can be increased and the mold cost can be saved.
Deep Hole Drilling Liquid Cold Plate
A deep hole drilling liquid cold plate is a device used for thermal management to dissipate heat and maintain stable temperatures in equipment. It is made of a metal plate with deep-drilled holes filled with a thermally conductive liquid. This design allows for efficient heat transfer, quickly conducting heat from the equipment into the liquid on the plate, which is then carried away through circulation, keeping the equipment within an acceptable temperature range.
The biggest advantage of this process is that it does not need welding or friction stir welding process production, direct processing with the drill bit, sometimes, you can also use the profile process to replace the drill bit processing, so that the efficiency is higher and the cost is lower, of course, the disadvantage of this process is that we should pay attention to the structure design of the seal, because compared with other processes, it will have 1-3 more holes.
How to Test the Leakage of the Cold Plate?
The reliability of the cold plate is a very important evaluation parameter in the entire product attribute. Usually, the working pressure of the customer’s water pump or circulation system is around 0.2-1.0Mpa. Therefore, when testing the cold plate, we first need to clean the flow channel of the cold plate with a water temperature of 80 degrees Celsius to prevent oil stains and aluminum cutting from entering the circulation cooling system.
Then put the cleaned cold plate into the testing platform. At this time, we can connect the inlet and outlet of the cold plate through a 1.5Mpa air pressure to ensure that the air pressure is fully filled in a closed circulating flow channel. This pressure holding time is usually 5-20 minutes, depending on the customer’s needs and actual application conditions. Usually, we do a 10 minute pressure holding test to determine if there is any leakage.
After completing the pressure maintaining test, we will enter another stage of testing the flow resistance, which is also very important because we will analyze it through simulation software during the design process to obtain a theoretical flow resistance parameter that needs to be matched with the water pump and circulation system used by the customer’s time. Adding excessive flow resistance will increase the load capacity of the water pump, and we will also note that, If there are impurities or aluminum cutting residues inside the flow channel during the processing, we can select this unqualified cold plate through data comparison.
Air pressure holding test
Flow resistance test
Helium leak test
How to Help Customers Design a Liquid Cold Plate？
Thermal simulation analysis is a very important process, especially for new design projects. Early stage simulation analysis can shorten the product development cycle and save costs. We usually tell our customers whether they need to provide them with a thermal analysis solution. If customers do not have the design ability, we usually design the optimal solution for them for free, which can save them development time and costs, Generally speaking, it can save 30% of product development time and 50% of research and development costs.We usually need the following parameters to assist customers in conducting thermal analysis:
Based on the size of the customer’s cabinet, provide us with an ideal size for the liquid cooling board. For example, the length, width, and height of the liquid cooling board are 200x200x15mm, respectively.
-Material:
What are the material requirements for the cold plate, such as aluminum or copper? Generally, we choose aluminum more than others, considering not only cost but also weight. Of course, there is also an important issue to consider, such as the issue of corrosion prevention. At this time, it is necessary to consider copper or stainless steel materials, usually stainless steel cold plates. We suggest using stainless steel tubes to press into aluminum plates to make Tube liquid cooling plates.
We need the thermal power of the customer’s chip, as well as the position on the PCB, which corresponds to the position on our liquid cooled plate. Based on the size and position of this chip, we will develop detailed flow channels and microchannels. When the power density is high, we will consider designing microchannels with local encryption.
We need to know the working environment temperature of this product in order to set it for operation in our software. Usually, we set the temperature to around 35 or 45 degrees Celsius. Of course, if we encounter a laser module pump source, we set the environmental temperature to 25 degrees Celsius, depending on the customer’s requirements
This parameter is used to set the inlet temperature of the liquid, and then based on the flow rate, we set the flow rate so that we can see the vector cloud head of the liquid flow rate and pressure throughout the entire module. Based on these surfaces, we further optimize, such as adjusting the position, width, depth, and other aspects of the flow channel to achieve the optimal heat transfer effect.
Why Choose Kenfatech's Liquid Cold Plate?
Design and Development Expertise
Our team's proficiency in creating tailored liquid cold plate solutions sets us apart. We harness our deep understanding of thermal dynamics to design products that meet your specific needs.
Quality Assurance
We implement stringent quality control measures, ensuring the reliability and durability of our products. Our liquid cold plates stand the test of time, providing a robust solution for your cooling needs.
Wide Product Range
From FSW to brazing, extrusion, and copper tube liquid cold plates, we offer a diverse product range, catering to various industry applications and power densities.
Timely Delivery
We understand the importance of time in business. Our efficient production management protocols ensure we deliver high-quality products right when you need them.
Customer Service
Our commitment extends beyond product delivery. We provide exceptional customer support, assisting you at every step of your journey with us. deliver high-quality products right when you need them.
Proven Track Record
Our track record of successful collaborations across various industries speaks volumes. Companies worldwide trust Kenfatech to provide them with top-notch thermal management solutions.
Sharing Some Case designs
Our thermal design experts will use Ansys Icepak thermal analysis software to design the heat sinks, liquid cold plate solutions for customers, to realize the initial theoretical feasibility, and then move to the actual sample production, which will save the cost and development cycle for customers.We share that these case designs were independently developed and designed, and all intellectual property belongs to Kenfa, which is also a part of trade secrets.At the same time, when designing liquid cooled plates, the design and optimization of microchannels will also be considered.
1,How to optimize the microchannel design of liquid cold plates
2,Design and Optimization of Flow Channels for Liquid Cooled Plates
3, Slection of coolant for liquid cold systems
4, How can I tell the pros and cons of a liquid cold plate design
5, How are battery cooling plates made?
6, Copper liquid cold plate vs aluminum liquid cooling plates
7, What is an electric vehicle liquid cold plate?
8,How to avoid the occurence of leakage in the design process of the liquid cold plate?
