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. 2017 Jul 2;10(7):739.
doi: 10.3390/ma10070739.

Finite Element Analysis of Interfacial Debonding in Copper/Diamond Composites for Thermal Management Applications

Muhammad Zain-Ul-Abdein  1 , Hassan Ijaz  2 , Waqas Saleem  3 , Kabeer Raza  4 , Abdullah Salmeen Bin Mahfouz  5 , Tarek Mabrouki  6
Affiliations

Finite Element Analysis of Interfacial Debonding in Copper/Diamond Composites for Thermal Management Applications

Muhammad Zain-Ul-Abdein et al. Materials (Basel). .

Abstract

Copper/diamond (Cu/D) composites are famous in thermal management applications for their high thermal conductivity values. They, however, offer some interface related problems like high thermal boundary resistance and excessive debonding. This paper investigates interfacial debonding in Cu/D composites subjected to steady-state and transient thermal cyclic loading. A micro-scale finite element (FE) model was developed from a SEM image of the Cu/20 vol % D composite sample. Several test cases were assumed with respect to the direction of heat flow and the boundary interactions between Cu/uncoated diamonds and Cu/Cr-coated diamonds. It was observed that the debonding behavior varied as a result of the differences in the coefficients of thermal expansions (CTEs) among Cu, diamond, and Cr. Moreover, the separation of interfaces had a direct influence upon the equivalent stress state of the Cu-matrix, since diamond particles only deformed elastically. It was revealed through a fully coupled thermo-mechanical FE analysis that repeated heating and cooling cycles resulted in an extremely high stress state within the Cu-matrix along the diamond interface. Since these stresses lead to interfacial debonding, their computation through numerical means may help in determining the service life of heat sinks for a given application beforehand.

Keywords: Cr-coated diamond; copper/diamond composite; finite element analysis; interfacial debonding; thermal cyclic load.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funding sponsors had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, and in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic of the heat sink indicating the heat flow from source to ambient, such that Tsource > Tamb, in the perpendicular and parallel orientations.
Figure 2
Figure 2
SEM images of the Cu/CrD composite with diamond fractions—(a) 5 vol %; (b) 20 vol %.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Mesh generation—(a) SEM image of the Cu/20 vol % CrD composite; (b) Finite element (FE) mesh; (c) Cu/D composite mesh without the Cr-interface; and (d) Cu/D composite mesh with the Cr-interface.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Schematics of the boundary conditions and the types of interfaces—Tie constraint or the cohesive contact at the Cu/uncoated diamond interface, tie constraint at the Cr/diamond interface, and cohesive contact at the Cu/Cr interface.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Steady-state analysis without interacting surfaces (Case 1): Contours of (a) Nodal temperature (°C); (b) Active yielding; (c) Equivalent plastic strain; (d) Mises equivalent stress (MPa).
Figure 6
Figure 6
Steady-state analysis with interacting surfaces—Contours of (a) Case 2: Nodal temperature (°C); (b) Case 3: Nodal temperature (°C); (c) Case 2: Equivalent plastic strain; (d) Case 3: Equivalent plastic strain; (e) Case 2: Mises equivalent stress (MPa); and (f) Case 3: Mises equivalent stress (MPa).
Figure 7
Figure 7
Contours of contact opening (mm)—(a) Case 2: Cu/uncoated diamond; (b) Case 3: Cu/Cr-coated diamond.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Case 4: Thermal boundary condition applied to all nodes (left), Contours of active yielding (right).
Figure 9
Figure 9
Case 4: Peak stress vs. logarithmic strain response to the applied thermal cyclic loading and zones of tension and compression within the Cu-matrix.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Case 4: Maximum von Mises equivalent stress as a function of time for different temperature values (a); Contours of Mises stress at the end of cyclic loading for a peak temperature of 100 °C (b).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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