7 Common Liquid Cooling Plate Processes: Principles & Key Characteristics
1. Stamping + Brazing Process
Principle: Aluminum or copper plates are stamped into components with flow channel grooves using stamping dies, and then hermetically connected with fins, cover plates and other components through brazing (such as vacuum brazing or controlled atmosphere brazing).
Characteristics: Suitable for mass production with low cost and flexible flow channel design. Fins can be integrated to enhance heat transfer, but the die cost is high and the complexity of flow channels is limited.
2. Machining + Welding Process
Principle: CNC machine tools are used to mill, drill and process flow channels on aluminum or copper base plates, and then the cover plates are sealed by welding (such as friction stir welding, brazing) to form closed flow channels.
Characteristics: The shape and depth of the flow channel can be freely designed, which is suitable for complex heat source layout and space-constrained scenarios, but the processing efficiency is low and the material utilization rate is low.
3. Extrusion Molding + Welding Process
Principle: Aluminum alloy billets are heated and extruded through extrusion dies to form profiles with internal flow channels, which are then cut, machined and welded with headers or cover plates to complete sealing.
Characteristics: High production efficiency and low cost, suitable for mass production, but the flow channels are usually regular in shape, and the design of complex flow channels is limited.
4. Die Casting + Welding Process
Principle: Molten aluminum alloy is injected into the mold at high pressure to die-cast the body with flow channel grooves, and then the cover plate is sealed by welding (such as friction stir welding, brazing).
Characteristics: Suitable for complex integrated structures with high production efficiency, but the die cost is high. Die castings may have pores, impurities and other problems, which require subsequent treatment.
5. Fin Cutting + Brazing Process
Principle: Dense fins are processed on the aluminum or copper base plate through the fin cutting process to form microchannels, which are then hermetically sealed with the cover plate and water inlet and outlet nozzles through brazing.
Characteristics: High heat transfer efficiency and small volume, suitable for high heat flux scenarios, but the flow resistance is large, requiring a powerful pump drive and high cost.
6. Friction Stir Welding (FSW) Process
Principle: A high-speed rotating stirring head is used to generate frictional heat on the contact surface of the workpiece, so that the metal enters a plastic state and fuses to achieve solid-state connection. It is often used to seal cover plates or connect complex flow channel structures.
Characteristics: High weld strength, good sealing performance, no fusion welding defects, suitable for large-size and mass production, but high requirements for tooling and slightly poor weld appearance.
7. 3D Printing (Additive Manufacturing) Process
Principle: Metal 3D printing technology (such as selective laser melting) is used to stack metal powder layer by layer to directly manufacture liquid cooling plates with complex topological structures, and the flow channels can be designed conformally.
Characteristics: Extremely high design freedom, able to realize complex flow channels that cannot be processed by traditional processes, and excellent heat dissipation performance, but high cost and low production efficiency, suitable for prototype development or high-end customization.
Your message must be between 20-3,000 characters!
