Modeling the Thermal Resistance at the Interface between Soft Materials and Metal Materials

It is known that the air gap remaining at the interface between different materials is a cause of thermal resistance. Thermal interface materials (TIMs) made of polymeric materials are often used to reduce the air gap remaining between the interface and metal heat dissipation components, but there are many cases where the expected heat dissipation performance is not obtained. Therefore, we are working to clarify the cause and model the thermal resistance that occurs.

Proposal of a New Thermal Insulation Structure utilizing the Interfacial Thermal Resistance of Different Polymeric Materials

At the interface between incompatible polymeric materials, the mutual penetration of molecular chains is suppressed, and a kind of interfacial thermal resistance may occur. Thermoplastic polymeric materials that exhibit fluidity when heated can be made to have a multilayer structure by applying appropriate processing. Therefore, even if the thermal resistance value of a single interface is small, by forming a layered structure of several thousand to tens of thousands of layers, we aim to create a large thermal resistance in the direction across the structure.