University of Macau / Faculty of Science and Technology / Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

University of Macau / Faculty of Science and Technology / Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

A stacked microchannel heat sink was developed to provide efficient cooling for microelectronics devices at a relatively low pressure drop while maintaining chip temperature uniformity. Microfabrication techniques were employed to fabricate the stacked microchannel structure, and experiments were conducted to study its thermal performance. A total thermal resistance of less than 0.1 K/W was demonstrated for both counter flow and parallel flow configurations. The effects of flow direction and interlayer flow rate ratio were investigated. It was found that for the low flow rate range the parallel flow arrangement results in a better overall thermal performance than the counter flow arrangement; whereas, for the large flow rate range, the total thermal resistances for both the counter flow and parallel flow configurations are indistinguishable. On the other hand, the counter flow arrangement provides better temperature uniformity for the entire flow rate range tested. The effects of localized heating on the overall thermal performance were examined by selectively applying electrical power to the heaters. Numerical simulations were conducted to study the conjugate heat transfer inside the stacked microchannels. Negative heat flux conditions were found near the outlets of the microchannels for the counter flow arrangement. This is particularly evident for small flow rates. The numerical results clearly explain why the total thermal resistance for counter flow arrangement is larger than that for the parallel flow at low flow rates. In addition, laminar flow inside the microchannels were characterized using Micro-PIV techniques. Microchannels of different width were fabricated in silicon, the smallest channel measuring 34 mm in width. Measurements were conducted at various channel depths. Measured velocity profiles at these depths were found to be in reasonable agreement with laminar flow theory. Micro-PIV measurement found that the maximum velocity is shifted significantly towards the top of the microchannels due to the sidewall slope, a common issue faced with DRIE etching. Numerical simulations were conducted to investigate the effects of the sidewall slope on the flow and heat transfer. The results show that the effects of large sidewall slope on heat transfer are significant; whereas, the effects on pressure drop are not as pronounced.

Synthesis and Characterization of Some Low and Negative Thermal Expansion Materials Tamas Varga 370 pages Directed by Dr. Angus P. Wilkinson The high-pressure behavior of several negative thermal expansion materials was studied by different methods. In-situ high-pressure x-ray and neutron diffraction studies on several compounds of the orthorhombic Sc2W3O12 structure revealed an unusual bulk modulus collapse at the orthorhombic to monoclinic phase transition. In some members of the A2M3O12 family, a second phase transition and/or pressure-induced amorphization were also seen at higher pressure. The mechanism for volume contraction on compression is different from that on heating. A combined in-situ high pressure x-ray diffraction and absorption spectroscopic study has been carried out for the first time. The pressure-induced amorphization in cubic ZrW2O8 and ZrMo2O8 was studied by following the changes in the local coordination environments of the metals. A significant change in the average tungsten coordination was found in ZrW2O8, and a less pronounced change in the molybdenum coordination in ZrMo2O8 on amorphization. A kinetically frustrated phase transition to a high-pressure crystalline phase or a kinetically hindered decomposition, are likely driving forces of the amorphization. A complementary ex-situ study confirmed the greater distortion of the framework tetrahedra in ZrW2O8, and revealed a similar distortion of the octahedra in both compounds. The possibility of stabilizing the low thermal expansion high-temperature structure in AM2O7 compounds to lower temperatures through stuffing of ZrP2O7 was explored. Although the phase transition temperature was suppressed in MIxZr1-xMIIIxP2O7 compositions, the chemical modification employed was not successful in stabilizing the high-temperature structure to around room temperature. An attempt has been made to control the thermal expansion properties in materials of the (MIII0.5MV0.5)P2O7-type through the choice of the metal cations and through manipulating the ordering of the cations by different heat treatment conditions. Although controlled heat treatment resulted in only short-range cation ordering, the choice of the MIII cation had a marked effect on the thermal expansion behavior of the materials. Different grades of fluorinert were examined as pressure-transmitting media for high-pressure diffraction studies. All of the fluorinerts studied became nonhydrostatic at relatively low pressures (~1 GPa).

Gas hydrate is a naturally occurring crystalline compound formed by water molecules and encapsulated gas molecules. The interest in gas hydrate reflects scientific, energy and safety concerns - climate change, future energy resources and seafloor stability. Gas hydrates form in the pore space of sediments, under high pressure and low temperature conditions. This research focuses on the fundamental understanding of hydrate bearing sediments, with emphasis on mechanical behavior, thermal properties and lens formation. Load-induced cementation and decementation effects are explored with lightly cemented loose and dense soil specimens subjected to ko-loading; the small-strain stiffness evolution inferred from shear wave velocity measurement denounces stiffness loss prior to structural collapse upon loading. Systematic triaxial tests address the intermediate and large strain response of hydrate bearing sediments for different mean particle size, applied pressure and hydrate concentration in the pore space; hydrate concentration determines elastic stiffness and undrained strength when Shyd>45%. A unique sequence of particle-level and macro-scale experiments provide new insight into the role of interparticle contact area, coordination number and pore fluid on heat transfer in particulate materials. Micro-mechanisms and necessary boundary conditions are experimentally analyzed to gain an enhanced understanding of hydrate lens formation in sediments; high specific surface soils and tensile stress fields facilitate lens formation. Finally, a new instrumented high-pressure chamber is designed, constructed and field tested. It permits measuring the mechanical and electrical properties of methane hydrate bearing sediments recovered from pressure cores without losing in situ pressure (~20MPa).

ZnO nanowires and nanorods are a new class of one-dimensional nanomaterials with a wide range of applications in NEMS. The motivation for this work stems from the lack of understanding and characterization of their thermomechanical behaviors essential for their incorporation in nanosystems. The overall goal of this work is to develop a fundamental understanding of the mechanisms controlling the responses of these nanostructures with focus on: (1) development of a molecular dynamics based framework for analyzing thermomechanical behaviors, (2) characterization of the thermal and mechanical behaviors in ZnO nanowires and (3) development of models for pseudoelasticity and thermal conductivity. The thermal response analyses show that the values of thermal conductivity are one order of magnitude lower than that for bulk ZnO due to surface scattering of phonons. A modified equation for phonon radiative transport incorporating the effects of surface scattering is used to model the thermal conductivity as a function of wire size and temperature. Quasistatic tensile loading of wires show that the elastic moduli values are 68.2-27.8% higher than that for bulk ZnO. Previously unknown phase transformations from the initial wurtzite (WZ) structure to graphitic (HX) and body-centered-tetragonal (BCT-4) phases are discovered in nanowires which lead to a more complete understanding of the extent of polymorphism in ZnO and its dependence on load triaxiality. The reversibility of the WZ-to-HX transform gives rise to a novel pseudoelastic behavior with recoverable strains up to 16%. A micromechanical continuum model is developed to capture the major characteristics of the pseudoelastic behavior accounting for size and temperature effects. The effect of the phase transformations on the thermal properties is characterized. Results obtained show that the WZ→HX phase transformation causes a novel transition in thermal response with the conductivity of HX wires being 20.5-28.5% higher than that of the initial WZ-structured wires. The results obtained here can provide guidance and criteria for the design and fabrication of a range of new building blocks for nanometer-scale devices that rely on thermomechanical responses.

Comprehensive molecular design was used to identify new heat transfer fluids for direct immersion phase change cooling of electronic systems. Four group contribution methods for thermophysical properties relevant to heat transfer were critically evaluated and new group contributions were regressed for organosilicon compounds. 52 new heat transfer fluids were identified via computer-aided molecular design and figure of merit analysis. Among these 52 fluids, 9 fluids were selected for experimental evaluation and their thermophysical properties were experimentally measured to validate the group contribution estimates. Two of the 9 fluids (C6H11F3 and C5H6F6O) were synthesized in this work. Pool boiling experiments showed that the new fluids identified in this work have superior heat transfer properties than existing coolant HFE 7200. The radiative forcing and global warming potential of new fluids, calculated via a new group contribution method developed in this work and FT-IR analysis, were found to be significantly lower than those of current coolants. The approach of increasing the thermal conductivity of heat transfer fluids by dispersing nanoparticles was also investigated. A model for the thermal conductivity of nanoparticle dispersions (nanofluids) was developed that incorporates the effect of size on the intrinsic thermal conductivity of nanoparticles. The model was successfully applied to a variety of nanoparticle-fluid systems. Rheological properties of nanofluids were also investigated and it was concluded that the addition of nanoparticles to heat transfer fluids may not be beneficial for electronics cooling due to significantly larger increase in viscosity relative to increase in thermal conductivity.

Ceramic cellular solids, mainly honeycombs and foams, are a novel class of composite materials where one phase is an interconnected network of solid struts or plates and the other one an empty phase or possibly a fluid. Honeycombs are an array of two dimensional prismatic cells whereas in foams the arrangements of cells are three dimensional polyhedral cells. Unlike solids, the properties of honeycombs are based on three major variables i.e. a) relative density (p* /p s where p* is the density of the cellular material and ps that of the solid of which it is made) b) cell wall material and c) geometry of the cells. Because of the flexibility in tailoring these variables, cellular solids can be engineered to exhibit a unique combination of mechanical and thermal properties for diversified thermostructural applications. Ceramic based honeycombs fabricated out of cordierite (2MgO.2Al2O35SiO2), mullite (3Al2O32SiO2), cordierite: mullite (2MgO.2Al2O35SiO2) with specific configurations are the leading candidates for many of the applications such as substrates for catalytic converters, molten metal filters, air heaters and heat exchangers etc. Zirconia by the virtue of its high fracture toughness and low thermal conductivity and high refractoriness is an interesting ceramic material and explored for versatile applications. However, no significant efforts have been reported to produce zirconia/alumina and their composite based honeycomb structures and also they have not been explored for their thermo-mechanical and energy absorption based applications. In the present study, looking at the possible potential applications of the honeycombs of Zirconia/alumina and their composites such as solid oxide fuel cells, high temperature filters, blast protection tiles etc., attempts are made to fabricate honeycomb structures. Chapter 1 of the thesis describes the detailed literature survey that has been carried out using advanced search packages regarding the evolution of ceramic honeycomb structures and their properties followed by the advantages of zirconia/alumina and their composites as candidate materials for targeted applications. Literature survey also covers the various processing techniques, characterization procedures with special emphasis on the thermo-mechanical properties. Chapter II describes attempts on developing an optimum scheme of processing of zirconia honeycomb which includes selection of precursor oxides, mixing of formulations, dough making based on viscosity measurements, shaping by extrusion, microwave drying, debinding and sintering to obtain the defect free monolithic structures keeping in view of the scale up possibilities. The chapter also describes a specially developed die fabrication process with innovative machining procedures. (Patent no. 198045). Sintered honeycombs were also characterized for their critical physiochemical properties. In chapter III mechanical characterization of honeycomb samples is reported after subjecting them to compression testing with varying cell channel orientation, compositions and configurations. It is observed that all honeycombs, irrespective of the composition and configuration exhibited anisotropic behavior. In addition, the anisotropy increases with the rib thickness and decreases with increase in the unit cell length. Thermal conductivity measurement studies of the honeycombs are reported in chapter IV. Two types of measurement techniques viz. laser diffraction and monotonic heating technique have confirmed the reduction of thermal conductivity of the honeycomb samples as compared to their solid counterpart. It is observed that the finer channel honeycombs offer low thermal conductivity as compared to the coarser channel when tested across the channel direction. For equivalent relative density, the thermal conductivity value for triangular channel is found to be more as compared to the square channel. Also, the thermal conductivity values were found less when measured across the channel as compared to the values when measured along the channels. The thermal conductivity value for fine channel zirconia-alumina composite honeycombs was found much less than the thermal conductivity of the alumina matrix. Chapter V summarises the implications of the study, conclusions and the target applications.

Current research on thermal effects on guideways has addressed many aspects of the behavior of guideways using two-dimensional models. The two-dimensional models are acceptable for existing guideway designs, in which cross sectional shapes are uniform along the length of the guideway. However, three-dimensional models are necessary for a modular design, in which the track structures that interact with Maglev vehicles are made separately and are assembled into the support structure, and in which the cross sectional shapes are not uniform. A three-dimensional numerical model of the thermal environment, in which the effect of partial shading is taken into account, is implemented for the study of guideway behavior under various thermal environments. The numerical model of the thermal environment is calibrated to the experimental results under the thermal environment at Austin, Texas, and is extrapolated to predict the behaviors of guideways under the thermal environment in Las Vegas, Nevada, which is one of the candidate sites for the implementation and deployment of the high speed Maglev transportation system. This study addresses the suitability of a modular steel guideway design under such a thermal environment. Characteristics of the behavior of guideways under various thermal environments are identified, and the behavior of guideways under the effect of partial shading is summarized. / text

The thesis is devoted to the frequency-resolved investigation of the relaxation processes in optoelectronic materials and devices. Conventional fluorescence decay time measurement technique in the frequency domain was adapted for the use with light-emitting diode (LED) excitation and signal registration by a lock-in amplifier. Inorganic phosphors synthesized by aqueous sol-gel combustion method for using as wavelength converters in white LEDs as well as advanced organic semiconducting materials were investigated by photoluminescence decay time and quantum yield measurement techniques. The photoluminescence decay time measurement technique with extremely low quasi-continuous UV LED excitation was applied for the carrier dynamics research in GaN epitaxial layers. The investigation under such a low excitation conditions revealed the contribution of donor-acceptor recombination in the yellow luminescence of GaN. The techniques for in-situ thermal characterization of encapsulated LEDs, including the measurements of phosphors converter temperature and heat relaxation time constants inside a LED, were developed and demonstrated for the investigation of commercial low- and high- power LEDs. / Disertacija yra skirta relaksacijos procesų, vykstančių optoelektronikos medžiagose ir prietaisuose, tyrimui dažninės skyros metodu. Įprastas fluorescencijos gesimo trukmės tyrimo metodas, veikiantis harmoniškai moduliuoto žadinimo režimu, buvo adaptuotas žadinimui puslaidininkiniais šviestukais ir signalų registravimui radijo dažnių faziniu detektoriumi. Neorganiniai vandeniniu zolių-gelių metodu susintetinti fosforai, skirti baltų puslaidininkinių šviestukų gamybai, ir modernios organinės optoelektronikos medžiagos buvo ištirtos fotoliuminescencijos gesimo dėsnio ir kvantinės išeigos matavimo metodikomis, siekiant nustatyti krūvininkų rekombinacijos savybes ir optimizuoti sintezės parametrus. Realizuotas GaN epitaksinių sluoksnių liuminescencijos kinetikos tyrimas labai žemo kvazitolydinio sužadinimo atveju patvirtino rekombinacijos per priemaišas svarbą šio tipo medžiagose. Buvo sukurtos naujos prekinių šviestukų šiluminių savybių in-situ tyrimo metodikos, veikiančios dažninės skyros režimu. Bangos ilgio keitiklių temperatūra baltuose šviestukuose ir šilumos relaksacijos konstantos įvairaus tipo šviestukų konstrukciniuose elementuose buvo išmatuotos esant vardiniam šviestukų veikimo režimui.