Experimental Study of an Intelligent Phase Change Material Composite Thermal Management System

As electronic devices trend toward higher power and miniaturization, traditional single-mode thermal management methods fail to meet the temperature control requirements of high heat-flux applications. To address the low thermal conductivity and response lag of Phase Change Materials (PCM), this paper designs a composite thermal management system integrating PCM, Thermoelectric Coolers (TEC), and heat pipes, proposing a dynamic control strategy based on intelligent feedback algorithms, and conducts systematic experimental research under 150 W 300 W power conditions. First, a comparative analysis of four configurations shows that the 'PCM + TEC + Heat Pipe' synergistic scheme, selected via optimization algorithms, performs best. At 300 W, it limits the maximum surface temperature to 129.5° C, reducing it by approximately 43° C compared with the pure PCM scheme and improving cooling efficiency by 40%. Second, compared with the traditional FIN-FAN system, the composite system reduces the maximum temperature by over 50° C at 300 W, demonstrating significant adaptability to high-power scenarios. Furthermore, the experiment quantifies the impact of interface contact on heat transfer, revealing that close contact between the heating surface and the PCM shell is critical at 300 W, whereas non-contact leads to rapid overheating. Finally, multi-point temperature monitoring reveals thermal non-uniformity within the PCM, utilizing data-driven prediction models to identify a phase-change time lag of approximately 1000 s between the heat-source side and the cold-source side during the 300 W melting phase. This study clarifies the synergistic mechanism of active cooling and passive heat storage, providing an experimental basis for the design of intelligent thermal management systems for medium-to-high power equipment.