I-Corps: Ferrofluid-Based Passive Cooling System for Electronic Devices

Virginia Polytechnic Institute And State University, Blacksburg VA

Investigators

Abstract

Thermomagnetic convection is not yet fully understood, due in part to the fact that a universal constitutive model describing ferrohydrodynamics has not yet been developed. Research activities supporting prototype development will help fill this gap, as accurate constitutive models are a necessity for any computational investigation of ferrohydrodynamics. New constitutive models will be developed that consider the multi-scale nature of ferrofluids, i.e., particle-laden fluid in the micro-scale model compared to a homogeneous magnetized fluid in the bulk-scale. Such models will be tested using experimental data. Computational methods are adapted from standard techniques in molecular dynamics simulations and computational fluid dynamics. Experimental methods are inspired by industry standards in rheology and nanomaterial characterization. The effort will enrich the ferrohydrodynamics literature and has the potential to stem future technology developments. Application areas of such developments span medicine, materials science and manufacturing processes. The project will help to further develop technology for cooling data centers and other high-heat electronic devices, providing billions of dollars in energy savings per year. This energy savings will have significant commercial and environmental impact. The prototype development will support significant advances in ferrofluid synthesis and surface treatment of magnetic nanoparticles. These advances are expected to catalyze the development of numerous other thermal management solutions based on ferrohydrodynamics.