Study on the Effect of Equal Volume Filled Copper Foam on Radiator Temperature

In this study, copper foam with varying filling rates (porosity of 95% and pore density of 20 ppi) was combined with paraffin wax and integrated into a heat sink to investigate temperature fluctuations within the heat sink after charging and discharging of copper foam phase change materials (PCM) and an empty heat sink with varying filling rates. The study focused on three key PCMs: RT-42HC, RT-50HC, and RT-60HC. The PCMs had copper foam filling ratios of \(\psi=0.18\), \(\psi=0.37\), and \(\psi=0.55\), with three heating loads (0.9 kW/m², 1.8 kW/m², and 2.7 kW/m²). The data suggest that after 90 minutes of charging, RT-42HC (\(\psi=0.37\)) can decrease the baseline temperature by 20.29% at 0.9 kW/m² and a maximum of 35.49% with a foam filling ratio of \(\psi=0.18\). Under a heating load of 2.7 kW/m², RT-50HC (\(\psi=0.18\)) can reduce the baseline temperature by up to 35.49%. At the same load, RT-50HC (\(\psi=0.18\)) can reduce the reference temperature by 32.45%.RT-42HC (\(\psi=0.55\)) has a maximum enhancement ratio of 4.38 at SPT = 50° and a heating load of 18 W, whereas RT-50HC (\(\psi=0.55\)) has a maximum enhancement ratio of 4.3 at SPT=60° and a load of 27 W. In the cycle test with an 18 W heating load, RT-42HC (\(\psi=0.37\)) had the most favorable influence, lowering the reference temperature by a maximum of 21.94%.