When you’re cruising down Hollywood Boulevard in your sleek electric rental (this is personally my frugal fantasy), there’s probably nothing worse than for your sweet new ride to burst into flames.
How do manufacturers avoid a dangerous issue like thermal runaway in vehicles? At Strouse, we start by sourcing suitable thermal management materials to build precise custom components.
If you hope to build more effective solutions and avoid accidents like the one above, you’ll want to fully understand heat management materials. This guide will help you choose the right materials and learn where to source them.
How Do Thermal Management Materials Work?
Thermal management materials, or thermal interface materials (TIMs), can transfer or control heat between multiple surfaces. Distributing heat regulates an application's temperature and helps avoid overheating, which can cause machine failure. Manufacturers often use these materials in electronic devices.
FLEXIBLE MATERIALS VS. LIQUID ADHESIVES
As you may already know, there are multiple types of thermal management materials, such as putties, pastes, creams, glue, and potting compounds. Ultimately, the type of medium you choose will depend on your product goals and application.
- Liquid adhesives are a dispensable, flowing material that may require mixing (for two-part solutions) or heat/room-temperature curing.
- Thermal film adhesives offer even heat dissipation and a clean application.
- Thermal tape adhesives serve sealing and vibration-dampening applications with a wide range of material thicknesses.
Given our expertise as converters, today we’ll focus on flexible materials (a.k.a. film and tape adhesives), which can be cut and processed into precise shapes and multilayered solutions.
How to Choose a Flexible Thermal Management Material
Many thermal management applications use flexible materials because they’re precise, customizable, and repeatable solutions. These steps will help you pick out the right material for your solution.
1. NAME A TEMPERATURE RANGE
First and foremost, you’ll want to decide what temperatures you hope to dissipate or manage. Do you need it to withstand 200oF? 500oF? Will the temperature vary, and if so, what’s the range?
Make sure you base this judgment on the knowledge that a flexible material or tape is only as strong as its weakest link: e.g., if the carrier fails, the rest of the material will fail with it.
2. DECIDE HOW THICK IT NEEDS TO BE
Your required material thickness will help determine your selection.
“IT CAN BE THIN”
Thin materials like polyimide and graphite function well in high-heat applications. For example, manufacturers often wrap EV battery cells in polyimide film—sometimes coated in silicone adhesive, which can also withstand high temperatures.
The advantage of thin materials is that they’re more flexible and tend to cost less, but may perform fewer functions than thick materials.
“I NEED A THICKER MATERIAL”
Many thermal management materials are used for sealing, insulation, and shock absorption, which require thicker materials. In this case, you’ll want to choose a foam, such as polyurethane ISOLOSS or PORON insulation foam, to create gaskets or pads.
One of the most common thermal management solutions, often made from relatively thick materials, is thermal gap pads. These pads fit between heat sources to control the flow of heat and prevent overheating. Automotive manufacturers commonly use these thicker materials to create gap fillers in EV batteries.
3. DEFINE YOUR TOLERANCES
Not all materials hold tolerances equally.
For example, gap pad material has a claylike consistency, so cutting it feels like taking a pair of scissors to a piece of bubble gum. It’s so soft yet dense that you could take a spatula and slap it on a skillet like a pancake. Of course, this makes some requests sound like, “I need this bubble gum cut with 0.5mm accuracy…”
If you’ve never worked with a particular material, you may not know how it behaves when cut, which can result in unrealistic expectations for tolerances.
Tighter tolerances increase your price significantly, so it’s in your best interest to prioritize the tolerances necessary for part functionality.
4. PRIORITIZE YOUR APPLICATION
What’s the point in building a product that matches your specifications if it doesn’t match your application? Thermal management encompasses a wide range of situations. A material intended for electrical conductivity may not resist flame and vice versa.
Because you’ll want to use a material that matches your goals, it’s crucial to disclose your objectives to your manufacturer or converter.
Sourcing Thermal Management Materials For Your Application
Take it from the experts in flexible material converting—there’s only so much you can figure out by flipping through a thick stack of material data sheets.
Although you may already have a material in mind, you may have yet to consider other factors, such as the part manufacturability for your tolerances.
While research is still essential, some aspects of material performance can be challenging to gauge if you haven’t tried the material for its intended purpose.
If you’re interested in testing a design, submit our form today, and we’ll build your prototypes using advanced thermal management materials. Accurate samples will allow you to try material and design variations until you find the most suitable fit.
Lastly, check out our Learning Center for more information on how thermal management affects other industries and how a converter can help.
