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  • Stirweld Products
    • FSW HEAD
      • FSW standard head
      • FSW Spindle for robot
    • FSW TOOLS
      • High strength aluminium
      • Standard aluminium
      • Aluminium silicon
      • Aluminium steel
      • Aluminium copper
      • Stirweld Tool Holder
      • FSW tools catalogue
    • SERVICES
      • FSW prototyping
    • FSW ACCESSORIES
      • Temperature measurement
      • FSW clamping system
  • Friction Stir Welding
    • FSW TECHNOLOGY
      • Friction Stir Welding process
    • FSW APPLICATIONS
      • Liquid cold plates
      • Heat sinks for e-mobility
      • Aluminium tank
      • Copper applications
      • Other FSW applications
  • FSW blog
    • ARTICLES
      • FSW: a cost-killer in the aeronautics industry
      • How to choose FSW tool for my application
      • 4 essential elements for high quality FSW welding
      • More
    • WHITE PAPERS
      • Thermal Management: FSW liquide cold plate
      • FSW x Rheocasting
      • FSW Water heat sink for e-mobility
      • More
    • WEBINARS
      • FSW: all you need to know about aluminium welding
      • Thermal management: liquid cold plate & FSW
      • FSW: die casting heat sink for e-mobility
      • More
    • VIDEOS
  • About us
  • Contact
  • EnglishEnglish
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LIQUID COLD PLATES & FSW

Thermal management

I discover

What is a liquid cold plate?

A liquid cold plate is a device that is designed to cool down electronic equipment. It consists of a housing in which a channel has been machined to allow coolant to pass through (for example water), and a cover over the channel. This cover is welded to the housing using the FSW.

Most often these liquid cold plates are made of aluminium, but they can also be made of copper. The advantage of these two materials is their high thermal conductivity.

 

Chill plate

Cold plate housing

Custom liquid cold plate cover

Cold plate cover

Water cold plate

Cold plate housing & cover

Liquid cold plate welding

Cold plate welded by FSW

Liquid cold plate & thermal management

Liquid cold plates are required for customised solutions in industries where small batches are predominant and where perfect thermal management of equipment is essential: rail, wind energy, solar energy, space, aeronautics, data centres, military.

FSW of chill plate

The challenges of thermal management

Cost reduction and mass reduction

Better integration of components, increased heat flux density (W/m²) and the use of lightweight materials (such as aluminium) are required.

Thermomechanical constraints

The cold plate flatness has to be optimized to guarantee a perfect contact with the electronic equipment.

Low coolant pressure drop

The pressure drop has a direct impact on the energy efficiency of systems (pumps consumption).

Coolant quality, safety, and storage

High compatibility between materials and coolant is essential.

Water cooling plates sectors

FSW liquid cold plate: the answer to the challenges of thermal management

READ ARTICLE NOW

A welding technique with many benefits for welding of liquid cold plates

Machined cold plate friction stir welded
Lower cost

Replacement of vacuum brazing or EBW (electron beam welding).

Higher pressure resistance

Up to 300 bars.

Perfectly waterproof

No porosity.

Excellent thermal conductivity

Metallurgical junction.

Ease of use

Compared to vacuum brazing or EBW.

Comparison of welding techniques for a liquid cold plate

Cold plate welding comparison

FSW welded cold plate cost

Friction stir welding is the most economical technique in terms of operational cost (machine investment and cover supply) compared to EBW or vacuum brazing.

With the Stirweld FSW head, the investment cost is drastically reduced, and the cover design does not need to be extremely accurate. As a result, the cover can be manufactured by laser cutting which significantly reduces the cost compared to machined covers, which are required for Electron Beam Welding.

Another cost reduction using FSW is the cost of quality control. In the case of friction stir welding, this cost is minimal because:

Welding of water cooling plates
  • There is no risk of sticking or channel collapse (main defects of vacuum brazing),
  • It is a solid-state welding process: no porosity (main defects of electron beam welding),
  • There is no risk of coolant leaks in service due to a potential crack propagation by cycled fatigue pressure.

Design of friction stir welded liquid cold plate

Design of liquid cold plate cover

The cover dimensions of the liquid cold plate are one of the parameters that influences the welding operation but also the mechanical strength of the welded cold plate. There are two ways to increase the burst pressure strength of the part: to increase cover thickness or to decrease its width.

FSW chill plate
Friction stir welded liquid cold plate

Friction stir welding parameters

For an efficient and quality FSW welding of your liquid cold plate, several elements must be considered:

 

  • The thickness and width of the cover,
  • The definition of the tool path,
  • The definition of the dead zone (area of FSW tool exit).

Quality control of the welded liquid cold plate

test de pression   BURST PRESSURE TEST 

Introduction of water under pressure into the channel of the liquid cold plate to mesure the resistance to cracking of the cover.

test d'étancheité   LEAK TEST 

This is the most important test for checking the quality of the welded liquid cold plate.

 

gestion thermique FSW   THERMAL MANAGEMENT 

Experimental characterisation of the thermal resistance and pressure drop of the cold plate.

test visuel   VISUAL TEST 

To identify the presence of excessive flash (very common FSW defect), to check if the force applied by the shoulder on the part surface was high enough.

Stirweld FSW expertise

With a team of experts in friction stir welding, Stirweld supports you throughout your process for welding of liquid cold plate. Indeed, you can count on Striweld’s design office for:

  • Codesign of your liquid cold plate,
  • Design & manufacturing of your clampig jig,
  • Definition of your welding parameters & quality control,
  • Manufacturing of first batches.

Stirweld refers to ISO 25239 – Friction Stir Welding standard throughout the industrial process: weld joint design, welding operator qualification, specification and qualification of welding procedures, inspection & quality requirements.

Liquid cold plate design

Interested in finding more about cold plates and FSW?

All you need to know is in our free 45min webinar

Watch now

Get your complete guide to FSW liquid cold plates:

Chill plate welded by FSW

FSW is now accessible


Plus qu’un fournisseur FSW, Stirweld est le partenaire de vos projets FSW : études, qualifications, formation, tête FSW pour MOCN, outils. L’expertise et le conseil en plus. Nous vous accompagnons partout dans le monde et vous aidons à apprivoiser cette nouvelle technologie. Contactez-nous ! Stirweld sur Linked in Stirweld sur Twitter Youtube Stirweld

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