Numerical and experimental analysis of triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS)-based metal lattice heat sinks integrated with different phase change materials for enhanced thermal management of electronics

This study investigates the thermal performance of Triply Periodic Minimal Surface (TPMS)-based metal lattice heat sinks integrated with three Phase Change Materials (PCMs): RT55, RT42, and RT31. The objective is to optimize thermal management for high-performance electronics by evaluating the influence of PCM thermal properties and lattice geometry on heat transfer and phase change dynamics. Four TPMS-based designs octahedral (P3), waveform (P2), droplet (P4) and primitive (P6) were numerically analyzed under unidirectional heat flux conditions using a finite volume method. The simulations considered transient base and average temperature profiles, liquid fraction progression, and time to complete melting. Results revealed that primitive design consistently outperformed other configurations, achieving the lowest base temperature of 72 °C with RT31 and completing phase change in just 491 s, 28 % faster than waveform design and over 50 % faster than droplet design. Conversely, droplet design exhibited the slowest thermal response, with a base temperature of 90 °C and a melting time exceeding 3500 s for RT55. Among the PCMs, RT31 demonstrated superior thermal buffering due to its lower melting temperature, stabilizing average temperatures at least 5 °C lower than RT42 and RT55. The study highlights the importance of symmetrical lattice structures, such as in primitive design, for enhancing heat transfer efficiency and reducing phase change duration. This work contributes to advancing TPMS-based heat sink designs and provides actionable insights for integrating PCMs into next-generation thermal management systems for energy storage and electronics cooling.