Meccanica Magazine n. 4

ENG
Development of innovative materials for better thermal
management
Funded by the European Innovation Council (EIC) in the framework of
the Horizon Europe research programme, the project THERMODUST
– A paradigm shift for the future’s thermal management devices
through radical innovation in new materials and additive
manufacturing – kicked off. The project involves five partners: Trinity
College Dublin (IE, coordinator), Politecnico Milano (Department
of Mechanical Engineering), University OF Twente (NL), University
of Barcelona (ES) and Institute Josef Stefan (SI). The topic of the
project is to develop innovative materials based on the usage of
metal powders functionalised with 2D materials (like graphene) to
be used to build elements allowing better handling of thermal flux
to improve the thermal performances of existing systems to 40%.
These materials can considerably impact emission reduction, the
environmental sustainability of the industrial system and meet the
climate neutrality goal of the European Union by 2050. This project
significantly affects diverse strategic industries, like electronics,
aerospace and autonomous vehicles. In the latest, their performances
are affected by environmental conditions and associated ways of
thermal exchange. This objective will be reached by meeting other
partial objectives: defining a new process for the dispersion of 2D
materials in metallic powder; providing complete microstructural,
mechanical and thermal characterisation; developing a model
through which to predict their features and applications in practical
cases of interest, such as cooling systems of electronic components,
car and aerospace systems electric batteries.
The DMEC team, led by Sara Bagherifard, is mainly involved in
developing the additive process to build components starting from
functionalised powders and for the mechanical characterisation of
the developed materials.
Concerning the process, the cold spray will be the referral additive
technique for solids, which exploits the kinetic energy of the powders
accelerated at supersonic speed via pre-heated pressurised gas.
By avoiding powder fusion, this process allows for preserving the
features of the powders and ensuring high efficiency together with
a high deposition rate (up to 25Kg/h). For this purpose, the aim is to
develop cold spray numerical models leading to the optimal choice
of process parameters functional to the properties of the involved
powders.
Concerning the mechanical and microstructural characterisation, all
aspects of interest will be analysed, from the feature of the powders
to the final manufactured product, to evaluate their behaviour in
working situations in heat-transferring systems. Thermo-mechanical
fatigue, wear due to high temperatures, static resistance, and
stability of heat transfer properties related to the working cycles will
be investigated in our DMEC labs, working closely with our project
partners.
On November 1st, 2022, THERMODUST officially kicked off and will
last for four years.
meccanica magazine
83