Design and the transient thermal control performance analysis of a novel PCM-based active-passive cooling heat sink

• A novel PCM-based active-passive cooling heat sink is designed. • The transient heat flux shock condition is involved. • The thermal control characteristic of the proposed heat sink is numerically investigated. • Factors affecting the temperature control performance under heat flux shocks are examined. This work designs a novel active-passive cooling heat sink thermal management system based on the composite of phase change materials and metal foam. It is aimed to improve the thermal performance of the active antenna unit device for the fifth-generation mobile communication technology base station. In this present work, the numerical investigation of the thermal performance of the novel active cooling heat sink thermal management system under transient heat flux is considered. The influences of the phase change temperatures, the porosity of the metal foam, and the pore density of the metal foam on the heat sink’s thermal performance are studied. Results indicate that the novel active-cooling heat sink thermal management system presents better thermal performance than traditional active cooling heat sinks without phase change materials and metal foam. Compared with the traditional active cooling heat sinks, the maximum temperature of the designed heat sink could be decreased by 10 K, and its temperature control efficiency could be enhanced by up to 19%. The optimum porosity of the metal foam is approximately 0.95, and the maximum temperature control efficiency could reach as much as 19.8%.