AN EFFECTIVE THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY MODEL FOR ARCHITECTED PHASE CHANGE MATERIAL ENHANCER

Phase Change Materials (PCM) have been widely used for thermal energy storage due to their high latent heat of fusion. However, PCMs suffer from their very low thermal conductivity which limits heat spreading around the heat source. Without proper thermal conductivity enhancement, melting would mainly occur at the interface between the heated surface and the PCM, and would slowly spread in the bulk of the PCM, greatly reducing its performance. Metallic foams are usually used as thermal conductivity enhancer, yet recent progress in additive manufacturing have allowed architected structures to be used and optimized. We present here an analytical investigation of the effective thermal conductivity of porous architected structures and emphasize is made on the effect of thermal constriction at the interface with a heat spreader in contact with the heat source.