Experts predict that liquid cooling and immersion cooling technologies employed in data centers are entering a pivotal stage of development. A recent 2024 trend report indicates that liquid cooling will transition from a 'futuristic' concept to an indispensable 'necessity', occupying an increasingly important position in data center design.This shift is underpinned by several established factors, which are expected to peak this year. As server infrastructure continues to enhance its performance, the heat generated far exceeds that of previous IT equipment, an inevitable trend. Increasing evidence suggests that traditional cooling methods may struggle to maintain the necessary cooling levels for data centers to operate optimally.Therefore, data centers and their operators urgently need to proactively adopt new cooling solutions, including immersion cooling. Below are the reasons why immersion cooling is essential:Why is Immersion Cooling Important?By immersing IT equipment in a cooling dielectric fluid, immersion cooling technology demonstrates exceptional thermal conductivity, higher power density, and improved electrical energy efficiency. Properly deployed immersion cooling systems can reduce downtime, enable data centers to host and maintain denser server architectures, and enhance the power utilization efficiency of IT hardware.Why is This Moment Crucial?Immersion cooling technology is well-established, with a reliable track record and the trust of numerous leading companies in the technology industry. So, why is it receiving increasing attention now? Why should data center owners, operators, and managers seriously consider transitioning?Part of the reason lies in the fact that traditional air-cooling methods are struggling to effectively address the cooling demands of increasingly powerful server infrastructures. The thermal design power (TDP) of next-generation processing units can reach up to 350 watts, while the current typical server rack power density is approximately 7 kW, and the industry is striving to achieve a density of 20 kW per rack (multiple servers consist of one rack). For data centers with continuously enhanced functionalities, excellent cooling technology has become a necessity.For data centers, inadequate cooling systems are not viable options. Cooling failures are a common cause of data center outages, accounting for 13% of all outages annually according to Uptime Institute. With the increase in heat generation from infrastructure, this proportion is expected to continue rising. Furthermore, 70% of data center outage incidents cost $100,000 or more, and 25 percent cost more than $1 million.Clearly, cooling failures can damage corporate revenues, and this threat is growing. Therefore, data center owners, operators, and managers should take immediate action to incorporate new cooling technologies such as immersion cooling into their current and future plans.Why is Strategic Deployment Crucial?Transitioning to immersion cooling technology presents a fantastic opportunity for data center operations to adapt to future developments. Meanwhile, partnering with the right collaborators is a key way to fully leverage its advantages.An expert told Data Center Knowledge at the end of 2023, "Proper deployment of immersion cooling requires a comprehensive redesign of the data center. Therefore, although we expect to see 'temporary improvement solutions' within the next year, I predict that ultra-large-scale data center operators will prioritize and take necessary measures to strategically incorporate liquid cooling into their data center construction."For ultra-large-scale data centers, adopting immersion cooling offers unique advantages, but strategic deployment helps maximize processing potential within limited space. Suitable solutions can make more efficient use of the space occupied by traditional cooling equipment. By adopting the right strategies, more server infrastructure can be designed and deployed within existing space. Regardless of the size of the data center operation, immersion cooling can help better prepare for the future.Strategic deployment also involves evaluating alternative fluids. Early immersion cooling fluids were typically base oils directly procured from refineries, originally intended for other applications and industries, later adapted for use in data center cooling systems. Nowadays, immersion cooling fluids specifically formulated and developed for the unique needs of data centers offer optimized performance characteristics and better material compatibility. Additionally, with increasing power demands, the new generation of cooling fluids is expected to extend the expected lifespan of hardware.If you are interested in immersion cooling and wish to learn more, now is the best time – Lorithermal is ready to provide you with full support.Our immersion cooling fluid solutions can help data centers of any location and size achieve efficient cooling and improve operational efficiency. We closely collaborate with leading IT companies to help them build forward-looking infrastructures that meet growing data processing demands while maintaining long-term stability and flexibility.Are you ready to take action? Contact us to learn how Lorithermal can bring transformation to your operations.

In mechanical manufacturing and processing operations, it is common to see workpiece metal surfaces become adhered and welded together due to friction-generated heat, such as in lathe-turned machine parts. By analyzing these adhesion and welding phenomena, we can gain insight into the essence of friction welding. Friction welding utilizes the frictional heat and plastic deformation heat generated by the contact surfaces of the workpieces, raising the temperature in the adjacent areas near the interface to a range close to but below the melting point. This causes the workpieces to undergo plastic deformation and flow under pressure, achieving welding through interfacial molecular diffusion and recrystallization.There are numerous methods of friction welding. Based on the friction motion trajectories and process characteristics, commonly seen in actual production are continuous drive friction welding, stored energy friction welding, phase-controlled friction welding, inertia friction welding, orbital friction welding, and friction stir welding, among others. Among them, continuous drive friction welding, phase-controlled friction welding, inertia friction welding, and orbital friction welding rely on relative frictional motion between the weldments to generate heat energy, collectively referred to as traditional friction welding. Friction stir welding, insert friction welding, third-body friction welding, and friction surfacing welding are welding methods that rely on the heat generated by the relative frictional motion between the stirring head and the weldment.The friction welding process can be broadly divided into four stages: 1) conversion of mechanical friction energy into thermal energy; 2) plastic deformation of materials; 3) forging pressure under thermoplastic conditions; 4) intermolecular diffusion and recrystallization leading to welding. Compared to traditional welding, friction welding operates at lower temperatures and consumes less energy, with electrical energy consumption as low as 20% of traditional welding. It can effectively weld both similar and dissimilar metals. Moreover, friction welding boasts high precision, with a maximum length deviation of ±0.1 mm for the pre-combustion chamber of diesel engines produced through friction welding. The welding quality is stable and high in strength, significantly extending the product's service life. The welding process does not use any welding consumables, making it clean, hygienic, and pollution-free. Additionally, the heat-affected zone is small, and the welding speed is fast, with the process temperature below the melting point, effectively reducing solidification defects. Unlike traditional arc welding, friction welding does not produce sparks, arcs, or harmful gases, making it more conducive to environmental, health, and safety protection.With its technical characteristics of high quality, efficiency, energy saving, and pollution-free, friction welding has found increasing applications in aerospace, nuclear energy, automotive, machinery manufacturing, and other fields. It has received significant attention from industrially developed countries, which have invested substantial funds in technology development and application. Friction welding is widely recognized as a reliable, reproducible, and trustworthy welding technology.In the aerospace industry, the engines of the Airbus A380 use friction welding technology, resulting in a fuel efficiency improvement of one-quarter compared to competitors. At the same time, its first repair time and overall equipment life are significantly extended. For all internal combustion engine crankshaft components, the use of friction welding enables more efficient, high-quality, low-cost, and lean production.In the automotive manufacturing sector, friction welding is also widely used for the butt welding of round workpieces, disk-shaped workpieces, and bar and tube materials, such as intake and exhaust valves, tie bars, hubs, rotors, etc. Lightweight hubs produced using friction welding technology effectively reduce unit weight by more than 30% and significantly enhance overall performance in multiple aspects. A single welding operation can be completed in 10 seconds, with a work efficiency more than three times that of the spinning process. Compared to current casting, spinning, and other processes, welded hubs have a higher yield rate and superior performance. In new energy vehicles, the use of friction welding for full-face welding of copper rotors in electric motors significantly enhances the electrical conductivity of the rotor end ring and adapts to more complex product design requirements such as hollow rotor manufacturing.Thanks to the excellent welding performance of friction welding, this technology can also effectively complete various repair tasks, such as cracks in critical structural components, incorrect hole positions in sheet metal, casting defects, quenching cracks, and other issues. Friction plug welding is a solid-phase welding process with fast welding speeds and a small heat-affected zone. The repair strength reaches over 90% of the base material's strength, and the repair process is fully automated, ensuring reliable quality. The welded components meet high-standard usage requirements, reducing economic and schedule losses due to material and component scrap.After reading the above content, do you have a preliminary understanding of the technology and applications of friction welding? It is believed that with continuous development and engineering practice of friction welding technology, its applications will become increasingly widespread.

Factors to Consider in Heat Pipe Design Heat pipes are frequently used in current thermal management designs, including in common devices such as laptops and mobile phones. When designing heat pipes, the following factors need to be considered:Thermal load or heat to be transferredOperating temperatureTube materialWorking fluidWick structureLength and diameter of the heat pipeContact length of the evaporator zoneContact length of the compensation zoneOrientationImpact of bending and flattening of the heat pipeWhat Materials Can Be Used to Construct Heat Pipes?Specific working fluids can only operate within certain temperature ranges. Moreover, specific working fluids require compatible container materials to prevent corrosion or chemical reactions between the fluid and the container, as corrosion can damage the container and chemical reactions can produce non-condensable gases. Table 1 illustrates the typical operating characteristics of heat pipes from past research, experiments, and commercial production. For example, liquid ammonia heat pipes operate within a temperature range of -70 to +60˚C and are compatible with aluminum, nickel, and stainless steel. Liquid ammonia heat pipes have been widely used in space applications and use only aluminum containers due to their lighter weight. Water heat pipes operate within a temperature range of 5 to 230°C and are most effective for electronic cooling applications, with copper containers being compatible with water. When the temperature of the heat pipe is below the freezing point of the working fluid, the heat pipe will not function. Freezing and thawing are design issues that can potentially damage the heat pipe's sealing joints when placed vertically. Proper engineering and design can overcome this limitation.What is a Wick Structure? How Does It Affect Heat Pipe Performance?Heat pipes have four common wick structures, including grooves, meshes, sintered powder metals, and fibers. The wick structure lines the inner wall of the heat pipe container and allows liquid to flow from one end of the heat pipe to the other through capillary action. Each wick structure has its own advantages and disadvantages. There is no perfect wick structure. Each wick structure has its own limits.      Grooved Wick Structure· Has the lowest capillary limit but works best in gravity-assisted orientations where the condenser is above the evaporator.Mesh Wick Structure· Has the most uniform wick and works on the principle of gravity when the evaporator is above the condenser.Sintered Powder Metal Wick Structure· Works best in gravity-assisted orientations. Since the sintered powder metal wick is bonded to the tube wall through metal, it has the best conductive heat transfer from the tube wall to the wick or vice versa among the four common wicks.Fiber Wick Structure· Best suited for small-radius bends.Figure 1 depicts the performance of the four wick structures. It can be seen that the grooved heat pipe has the lowest capillary limit among the four but works best under gravity-assisted conditions.How Do Length and Diameter Affect Heat Pipe Performance?The vapor pressure difference between the condenser and evaporator determines the rate of vapor propagation between them. Additionally, the diameter and length of the heat pipe affect the vapor propagation speed and must be considered when designing heat pipes. A larger cross-sectional area of the heat pipe (i.e., a larger diameter) will allow a larger amount of vapor to be transported from the evaporator to the condenser. The cross-sectional area of the heat pipe is a direct function of the heat pipe's acoustic limit and entrainment limit. However, the operating temperature of the heat pipe also affects the acoustic limit of the heat pipe. Figure 2 compares the heat transfer of heat pipes with different diameters. It can be seen that heat pipes transfer more heat at higher operating temperatures.The rate of working fluid returning from the condenser to the evaporator is controlled by the capillary limit and is an inverse function of the length of the heat pipe. Longer heat pipes transfer less heat than shorter ones.Figure 3 represents the heat transferred by a copper water sintered powder metal wick heat pipe with a diameter of 6mm across various lengths and orientations.How Does Orientation Affect Heat Pipe Performance?Structures with higher capillary limits can overcome gravity to transport more working fluid from the condenser to the evaporator. However, as mentioned earlier, sintered powder metal wick heat pipes, which have the highest capillary limit, work best in gravity-assisted conditions (where the evaporator is above the condenser). Figure 3 shows the impact of gravity on sintered powder metal heat pipes.How Does Bending of Heat Pipes Affect Performance?If a heat pipe is bent, the acoustic limit and entrainment limit can be reduced relative to the bending radius and each bending angle. If the bending radius is too tight, the wick may crack (powder metal sintering) or collapse and get pinched (mesh). Therefore, bends in heat pipes may reduce the heat that can be transferred. Figure 4 illustrates the experimental results of the temperature difference between the evaporator and condenser of a 6mm diameter x 300mm long heat pipe bent from straight to a 180° U-bend at 30° bending intervals. The bending radius is the minimum bending radius recommended by Enertron, which is 3 times the pipe diameter or 18mm. The experimental results demonstrate that bending does not affect performance if the bending radius is equal to or greater than 3 times the diameter.How Does Flattening of Heat Pipes Affect Performance?If a heat pipe is flattened, the acoustic limit and entrainment limit will decrease relative to the flattened thickness. Therefore, excessive flattening of the heat pipe will reduce the heat that can be transferred or even completely block vapor passage. The right figure shows a sintered powder metal wick heat pipe that is overly flattened and has its vapor channel blocked. Figure 5 illustrates the experimental results of the temperature difference between the evaporator and condenser of a 6mm diameter x 300mm long heat pipe that is round, flattened to 3.5mm thickness, and flattened to 2.5mm thickness. The experimental results demonstrate that appropriate flattening does not affect performance, but excessive flattening does. If the steam channel thickness after flattening is greater than 2mm, there will be no performance degradation compared to a round tube. How does the average operating temperature of a heat pipe affect its performance?The average operating temperature of a heat pipe impacts its performance. The higher the average temperature, the better the performance. This is because the working fluid has lower viscosity at higher temperatures, allowing more working fluid to flow from the evaporator through the condenser to the wick structure. At higher temperatures, the working fluid also more easily transitions into a gaseous state. Figure 6 displays experimental results from testing a heat pipe with a 6mm diameter and 250mm length, featuring a copper-water sintered powder metal wick structure. By varying the coolant temperature in the condenser and changing the orientation from -90 degrees (against gravity) to +90 degrees (assisted by gravity), a heat input of 30 watts was applied to the evaporator.Are heat pipes reliable?Heat pipes are highly reliable due to the absence of moving parts. However, caution must be exercised during their design and manufacturing. Two manufacturing factors can reduce the reliability of heat pipes: sealing and cleanliness. Any leaks in a heat pipe will ultimately cause it to fail. If the internal chamber is not thoroughly cleaned, residues will produce non-condensable gases when the heat pipe is heated, degrading its performance. Improper bending and flattening of the tubes can also lead to leaks in the tube seals. There are external factors that may also shorten the lifespan of heat pipes, such as impact, vibration, force shock, thermal shock, and corrosive environments.

The skived fin heat sink is a type of heat dissipation device designed in a 'fin + baseplate' format, effectively increasing the heat dissipation area and enhancing heat dissipation performance. Typically made of aluminum, the skived fin heat sink efficiently dissipates heat generated by electrical components. In working environments, electrical equipment produces significant amounts of heat, which, if not dissipated promptly, can lead to equipment malfunctions and damage. The skived fin heat sink rapidly dissipates this heat, ensuring the normal operation of the equipment.The benefits of using skived fin heat sinks produced through skiving technology encompass several aspects:(1) Skived fin heat sinks feature a higher fin density, enhancing their heat dissipation performance.(2) The fin height of skived fin heat sinks can reach up to 120mm, fully meeting the production requirements of most heat sinks.(3) The fins of skived fin heat sinks can be made thinner, ranging from 0.05mm to 2mm, contributing to a lighter overall weight of the heat sink.(4) As skived fins are directly formed from the original material, there is no loss in heat dissipation efficiency, achieving 100% of the original material's heat dissipation capability. Additionally, risks such as loosening or detachment are eliminated, improving the reliability of machine operation.(5) Skived fin heat sinks exhibit high compatibility and offer significant potential for post-processing, allowing for further enhancements in heat dissipation performance through techniques like embedding copper tubes.(6) With continuous improvements in the performance and efficiency of skiving machines and the refinement of skiving materials, large-scale production has become feasible.Advantages of Skived Fin Heat Sinks:(1) Skived fin heat sinks are produced by a single skiving process from an aluminum (or copper) sheet, resulting in a seamless integration of fins and baseplate without joints. This configuration facilitates highly efficient heat conduction.(2) The skiving process enables the production of thinner and taller fins (even thinner than those of extruded aluminum profiles), leading to a higher fin density and subsequently, superior heat dissipation efficiency.(3) Due to the integrated skiving process, skived fin heat sinks achieve a lighter weight for the same heat dissipation area, translating into lower material costs.(4) Compared to extrusion processes, skiving offers fewer size constraints, allowing for wider and taller fins, ideal for dissipating heat from high-power chips.(5) For small-batch, large-volume heat sinks, skiving technology utilizes sheet metal processing, eliminating the need for costly molds.(6) In response to the increasing heat generation of modern chips, advancements in skiving technology and raw material processing, coupled with the integration of 1060 aluminum sheets and embedded heat pipes in the baseplate, have emerged as a significant highlight in large-scale thermal management assemblies.