Thermal Interface Materials (TIM) for Electronics/Electric Vehicle Dispensing Applications?

 Thermal interface materials are key materials for solving the heat dissipation bottleneck of modern electronic devices. Dispensing technology has become the mainstream process for TIM applications due to its high automation, high flexibility and suitability for complex shapes, especially in high-power, high-value fields such as electric vehicles.

Ι.Core Concept: Why Are TIM and Dispensing Processes Critical for Electric Vehicles?

1.The Extreme Importance of Thermal Management: Core components of electric vehicles (such as battery packs, electric drive systems, onboard chargers, power electronics, etc.) generate significant heat during operation. 

 Overheating directly leads to performance degradation, reduced lifespan, and even safety incidents. Efficient thermal management is the cornerstone for ensuring vehicle power, safety, and reliability.

2.Role of TIM: Between two seemingly flat solid surfaces (e.g., chip and heat sink), numerous microscopic voids filled with poorly conductive air actually exist. TIM fills these gaps, displacing air to establish an efficient thermal conduction pathway.

3.Advantages of Dispensing Process:

● Automation and Efficiency: Suited for large-scale automated production, ensuring consistency and high cycle rates.

● High Material Utilization: Precisely controls dispensing volume to minimize waste, particularly for expensive thermal greases.

● Adaptability to Complex Structures: Easily achieves various coating patterns like L-shapes, grids, and circles, ensuring perfect coverage on irregular surfaces.

● Reduced Air Bubbles: Advanced dispensing equipment and techniques effectively minimize bubbles, enhancing thermal performance.

● Dispensing Process:

Pattern: Typically, one or more “dots” or a “square”-shaped bead of adhesive is applied to each battery cell location on the cooling plate.

Challenge: The amount of adhesive must be precisely controlled to ensure that after the battery cells are pressed together, the TIM fully covers the interface and does not overflow due to excessive compression, potentially contaminating the battery cells or other components.

Case Value: Through efficient glue dispensing machine of TIM, the battery pack maintains efficient heat dissipation during fast charging and high-rate discharge, maintaining the battery cells within the optimal operating temperature range and significantly improving battery life and safety.

 

Case 2: Electric Drive System (Inverter, Motor Controller)

● Application Scenario: The core heat-generating components in the inverter are IGBTs or SiC power modules. The heat generated by these modules needs to be transferred to the liquid cooling jacket via a heat sink substrate.

Thermal Conductive Gel: This is currently the most popular choice. It offers good thermal conductivity (1.0-5.0 W/mK), excellent conformability (allowing for wide tolerances), low stress, and can be automated through the dispensing process.

 

Thermal Conductive Pads: These can also be used, but are typically applied via preforms. Dispensing gel offers advantages in terms of coverage and automation.

 

● Dispensing Process:

 

Pattern: Typically, one or more “dots” or a “square”-shaped bead of adhesive is applied to each battery cell location on the cooling plate.

 

Challenge: The amount of adhesive must be precisely controlled to ensure that after the battery cells are pressed together, the TIM fully covers the interface and does not overflow due to excessive compression, potentially contaminating the battery cells or other components.

 

Case Value: Through efficient dispensing of TIM, the battery pack maintains efficient heat dissipation during fast charging and high-rate discharge, maintaining the battery cells within the optimal operating temperature range and significantly improving battery life and safety.

 

Case 2: Electric Drive System (Inverter, Motor Controller)

● Application Scenario: The core heat-generating components in the inverter are IGBTs or SiC power modules. The heat generated by these modules needs to be transferred to the liquid cooling jacket via a heat sink substrate.

Summary

In the electric vehicle industry, the dispensing of thermal interface materials (TIMs) is a multidisciplinary technology involving materials science, precision mechanics, and automated control. It addresses macroscopic heat dissipation challenges at the micro level and plays a key role in ensuring the power, safety, and longevity of electric vehicles. From battery packs to electric drive systems, efficient, reliable, and automated TIM dispensing solutions have become an indispensable component of intelligent electric vehicle manufacturing.

Second Intelligent has played an important role in theresearch, development, manufacturing, pre-sales and after-sales services of fluid dispensing robot, potting and coating solutions which range from various types of automatic fluid dispensing, potting, two-component potting machines and automatic coating machines with desktop, free-standing, inline or cobot combined systems, and widely used in global electrical, electronics, home appliances, automobile, telecom, pharmaceutical, automotive electronics, semiconductor, aerospace, LED and more.

Automatic In-line PCB Glue Dispensing Machine SEC-DH400L

https://secondintelligent.com/industry-news/thermal-interface-materials-tim-for-electronics-dispensing-applications/