Evaluation and finite element modeling for new type of thermal material annealed pyrolytic graphite (APG)

Annealed pyrolytic graphite (APG) has many applications in the electronics industry due to its unusually high thermal conductivity in XY plane. A k·Core™ sample, manufactured by k Technology Corporation (kTC) composed of APG material with an aluminum encapsulant is evaluated and modeled by finite element analysis (FEA). The test vehicle has both 1-dimension and 2-dimension heat conduction classifications. The effect of 1-dimension versus 2-dimension is explained. Test conditions include edge cooling and thermal insulation (by plastic foam). Different combinations of test conditions (edge cooling and thermal insulation) can shift the measured temperature, but do not affect the thermal gradient. The thermal conductivity of the test sample obtained in the test is shown to be 540 W m−1 K−1, which is 2.70 times the baseline aluminum sample (200 W m−1 K−1). These test results were correlated back to a finite element analysis model with a positive match. The APG “benefit” is defined to be the ratio of the temperature difference between the APG sample and the baseline sample over the temperature difference between the baseline sample and ambient. The benefit of the encapsulated APG is as high as 51.67%. The study provides for a better understanding of how this new type of thermal material can be applied in electronics cooling.