Flexible CFD simulation model of a thin vapor chamber for mobile applications

Abstract

Heat loads produced by electronics in mobile devices affect the external temperature distribution, which users perceive. During the design phase of a product, these distributions have to be taken into account. Simulation provides a way to try different design approaches quickly. Vapor chambers are thin heat spreaders that offer very high spreading capabilities without adding too much thickness to a low profile device. The heat spreading makes the external temperature more uniform. To simulate a vapor chamber fully would require simulation of phase changes and rapid mass flows in a very thin volume. This kind of detailed simulation is cumbersome in a system level model. Therefore, a simpler model would be useful. A few of these exist but the goal in this work was to develop a behavioral approach which would model the vapor chamber as a single object in the system model.