Download PDF
Liquid-Cooled Cold Plate for Automotive Power Electronics with Shark-Inspired Flow Guides
Technology Category
- Analytics & Modeling - Digital Twin / Simulation
- Analytics & Modeling - Generative AI
- Functional Applications - Product Lifecycle Management Systems (PLM)
Applicable Industries
- Automotive
- Aerospace
- Consumer Goods
Applicable Functions
- Product Research & Development
- Quality Assurance
Use Cases
- Additive Manufacturing
- Digital Twin
- Predictive Quality Analytics
Services
- Software Design & Engineering Services
- System Integration
The Challenge
The engineers of Puntozero faced the challenge of redesigning the cold plate of the power electronics in Dynamis PRC’s electric race car for additive manufacturing. The primary issues identified were the non-uniform flow near the curvatures of the duct and the insufficient heat transfer surface area. These problems needed to be addressed to optimize the cooling efficiency and overall performance of the race car's power electronics. The team aimed to create a more efficient cooling system that could handle the high-performance demands of the Formula SAE Electric competition.
About The Customer
Dynamis PRC is the Formula Student team of Politecnico di Milano, a prestigious technical university in Italy. The team participates in the Formula SAE Electric competition, which serves as a platform for testing and showcasing innovations in drivetrain technology and fuel efficiency in a high-performance setting. Puntozero, a company specializing in advanced engineering solutions, partnered with Dynamis PRC to tackle the challenge of optimizing the cooling system for the race car's power electronics. The collaboration aimed to leverage additive manufacturing and advanced design techniques to achieve significant improvements in cooling efficiency and weight reduction.
The Solution
Puntozero engineers drew inspiration from the structure of shark scales to create a directional lamellar geometry that conforms to the duct of the cold plate. This design stirs the flow around the channel corners, enhancing the heat transfer surface area by 300%. The flow guides are based on a gyroid lattice, warped using advanced Field-Driven Design techniques. For the main structure of the heatsink, a diamond TPMS lattice with progressively decreasing thickness was selected. This external lattice reduced the weight and production cost of the component, improved its manufacturability, and increased the contact surface area with the power electronics to promote heat transfer. The cold plate prototype was additively manufactured in a powder alloy with a consistency close to pure aluminum. Computational tomography (CT) scanning was used to ensure the channel was free from powder and that the part was manufactured within specification and without imperfections.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
Related Case Studies.
.png)
Case Study
Improving Vending Machine Profitability with the Internet of Things (IoT)
The vending industry is undergoing a sea change, taking advantage of new technologies to go beyond just delivering snacks to creating a new retail location. Intelligent vending machines can be found in many public locations as well as company facilities, selling different types of goods and services, including even computer accessories, gold bars, tickets, and office supplies. With increasing sophistication, they may also provide time- and location-based data pertaining to sales, inventory, and customer preferences. But at the end of the day, vending machine operators know greater profitability is driven by higher sales and lower operating costs.
Case Study
Airbus Soars with Wearable Technology
Building an Airbus aircraft involves complex manufacturing processes consisting of thousands of moving parts. Speed and accuracy are critical to business and competitive advantage. Improvements in both would have high impact on Airbus’ bottom line. Airbus wanted to help operators reduce the complexity of assembling cabin seats and decrease the time required to complete this task.
Case Study
Aircraft Predictive Maintenance and Workflow Optimization
First, aircraft manufacturer have trouble monitoring the health of aircraft systems with health prognostics and deliver predictive maintenance insights. Second, aircraft manufacturer wants a solution that can provide an in-context advisory and align job assignments to match technician experience and expertise.
Case Study
Integral Plant Maintenance
Mercedes-Benz and his partner GAZ chose Siemens to be its maintenance partner at a new engine plant in Yaroslavl, Russia. The new plant offers a capacity to manufacture diesel engines for the Russian market, for locally produced Sprinter Classic. In addition to engines for the local market, the Yaroslavl plant will also produce spare parts. Mercedes-Benz Russia and his partner needed a service partner in order to ensure the operation of these lines in a maintenance partnership arrangement. The challenges included coordinating the entire maintenance management operation, in particular inspections, corrective and predictive maintenance activities, and the optimizing spare parts management. Siemens developed a customized maintenance solution that includes all electronic and mechanical maintenance activities (Integral Plant Maintenance).
