Metal Foam in Lightweight Heat-Exchangers: Innovation and Recycling Imperatives

Considering the recent acceleration of the mobility and energy transition, the importance of power electronics is becoming more significant. The cooling of these components plays an enormously important role in the performance of electric motors, wind turbines, and other electrical devices. As a result, the performance of these parts is becoming increasingly crucial. To address this problem, a new approach is being developed to make these cooling structures even more efficient, cost-effective and material-saving through the use of aluminum and copper metal foams. Three different manufacturing processes are established. While additive manufacturing is mainly used for aviation as the most expensive but most individualized variant, the established investment casting is also being tested, and the possibility of electroplating polymer foams is being investigated as an alternative. Complex CT scans are used to create simulation models of flows and heat transfer for virtual evaluations. In addition, an interface between Life-Cycle-Assessment and simulation software is to be integrated to be able to consider the effects on the CO2-footprint as early as the development process in the future. To meet the constantly increasing demand for raw materials due to new technologies, the report will also look at the recycling situation. The study has shown that electroplated foams cannot be satisfactorily decoated using conventional methods and therefore cannot be recycled in high quality. Due to the significant differences in material density, accurately characterizing materials using methods such as X-ray fluorescence analysis poses considerable challenges.