Chennai, July 27: Researchers at Indian Institute of Technology Madras have designed and experimentally tested a new cooling configuration that could improve thermal management in compact electronic devices.
The study introduces a novel design for a flat plate pulsating heat pipe, addressing one of the most critical challenges facing modern electronics - managing the heat they generate.
As gadgets get smaller and more powerful - whether consumer phones, enterprise servers, or military systems - excess heat becomes a bottleneck. It can reduce performance and affect component reliability, making efficient thermal management a high priority in compact electronics and data centres.
IIT Madras design stands out for its antiparallel arrangement and its use of an O-ring configuration. Tests showed that the O-ring setup delivers 16% lower overall thermal resistance at higher heat inputs when compared with the gasket-based configuration studied in the paper. The research team also found that using aluminium instead of copper reduces weight and improves performance in this configuration - aluminium versions showed about 20% lower thermal resistance than copper versions.
The device, called a Flat Plate Pulsating Heat Pipe, works like a miniature cooling system. It consists of a flat plate with tiny channels machined into it, partially filled with a liquid that moves back and forth, carrying heat away from hot components.
The research was led by Prof. Arvind Pattamatta and Dr. Pallab Sinha Mahapatra from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Madras, in collaboration with Mr. Davis T. Vempany and Mr. Hemanth Dileep from IIT Madras, Dr. Laxman Kumar Malla from Sri Sivasubramaniya Nadar College of Engineering, Chennai, and Dr. Pankaj Srivastava from the Instruments Research & Development Establishment, Dehradun.
Explaining the research, Prof. Arvind Pattamatta, Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Madras, said,
“Think of it like a small, sealed tube that contains a liquid which sloshes back and forth – when one end gets hot, the liquid evaporates, moves to the cooler end, condenses, and returns, creating a natural cooling cycle.”
Unlike most existing FPPHP designs, where the hot and cold sections are placed on the same side of the plate, the researchers designed a novel "antiparallel" arrangement in which the evaporator and condenser are placed on opposite faces. This design is suited to compact electronic housings where space is extremely limited.
The researchers tested two configurations of the cooling device – one using a silicon gasket for sealing, and another using O-rings. Although the gasket-based design holds more working fluid, the O-ring design showed better overall device performance at higher heat loads because of stronger working-fluid pulsation. At 100 W heat input, the best gasket-based configuration recorded an evaporator temperature of about 75°C, while the best O-ring configuration reduced it to about 69°C and achieved an overall thermal resistance of 0.44 K/W—16% lower than the gasket-based configuration.
Mr. Davis T. Vempany, Research Scholar, Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Madras, added,
“We noticed that while the gasket design holds more fluid initially, the O-ring version allows that fluid to pulsate much more freely. Think of it like blood circulation—better pulsation means better transport. That’s exactly what we’re achieving here.”
“Aluminium is lighter and more practical for commercial FPPHP production. Finding that it also outperforms copper in our tests is a strong signal for commercial viability,” said Dr. Pallab Sinha Mahapatra, co-author from IIT Madras.
The team also experimented with surface treatments. Making the inner channel walls superhydrophilic—meaning they strongly wet the channel surface—cut thermal resistance by about 16% compared with the untreated surface, since it promotes thin-film evaporation and improves heat transfer.
This research could have significant implications for the electronics industry:
Consumer devices – Laptops and phones could potentially benefit from more stable thermal performance in compact form factors.
Data infrastructure – More efficient thermal management could help address cooling constraints in servers and data-centre electronics; system-level energy savings would require separate validation.
Defence and aerospace – High-power radar, avionics, and related electronics could benefit from more reliable thermal control. The project received support from the Research and Innovation Center - DRDO, IIT Madras Research Park, underscoring its defence relevance.
Electric vehicles – Battery packs and power converters are potential future application areas where improved thermal control could support safety and service life, subject to application-specific testing.
Mr. Hemanth Dileep, Research Scholar, Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Madras, added,
“Our antiparallel FPPHP layout offers a practical, space-efficient answer to a problem that keeps growing as electronics shrink. We believe this can enhance reliability across a wide spectrum of systems—from handheld devices to heavy-duty industrial gear.”