MAHLE has developed a high-performance electronic cooling unit for Infineon’s EasyPACK™ S power module as part of a pre-development project aimed at preventing overheating in high-current electronics used in applications that can include data center power supply control systems.
Infineon’s EasyPACK™ S module is described as controlling electric switchgear and functions, and it can be used to control the power supply systems of data centers. MAHLE built a cooler tailored to the module’s requirements, with the goal of improving heat removal and protecting high-performance modules against overheating.
The MAHLE cooling unit is installed directly on the circuit board. MAHLE describes it as roughly the size of two chocolate bars stacked on top of each other, and it dissipates heat from the modules using a coolant.
MAHLE states that the cooling approach “significantly” boosts the performance of the EasyPACK™ S module compared with its predecessors, and that it enables Infineon to improve functional endurance and durability. In power electronics tied to facility power control, thermal limits can translate directly into current capability and allowable operating margin, so the mechanical integration details—like a board-mounted cooler and coolant-based heat transport—are the part data center engineers will want to watch as validation results come in.
The companies produced and supplied first prototypes within four months. Those prototypes are now in testing and validation by Infineon.
“Cooperation with Infineon is a further example of the way MAHLE is successfully transferring its competence developed in the automotive industry to other applications,” said Christian Kuechlin, Vice President, MAHLE Industrial and Special Solutions.
MAHLE also said it has consolidated its non-automotive activities into a new Industrial and Special Solutions unit within Group Sales, tying production, logistics, purchasing, and quality more closely to use plant capacity more effectively for this business.
Source: MAHLE
