Sparking an increase in volumetric and specific density for power converters with avant-garde thermal management strategies, topologies, and packaging schemes

Abstract

Increasing electrification of mechanically controlled or driven systems has created a demand for the development of compact, lightweight electronics. Removing waste heat from these high volumetric and gravimetric power dense assemblies, especially in mobile applications, requires a thorough understanding of the loss mechanisms for each component and non-traditional thermal management strategies with high heat flux potential. After summarizing the current achievements for both power component loss characterization and the direct cooling of electronics with liquid vapor phase-change, this dissertation highlights the development and validation of an electro-thermal testbed for demonstrating the enhanced, directed cooling of the densely packaged power electronics.