Tube Cold Plate

KingKa Custom Tube Cold Plate Manufacturing focuses on the production of custom tubular cold plates (Tube Cold Plate), providing a full set of processing equipment and precision assembly services. Tubular cold plates are widely used in various industrial applications, especially in areas that require efficient thermal management, such as electronic equipment, lasers, optoelectronic equipment, power equipment, automobiles, aerospace, etc. The following is a detailed introduction to tubular cold plates, including its definition, processing machines, processes, materials, precision, surface treatment, application optimization, etc.

What is Tube Liquid Cold Plate?

Tube Liquid Cold Plate is a device for heat exchange, mainly made of metal materials, and contains multiple slender pipes inside. These pipes are used to transmit coolant to take heat away from the heat source to achieve the purpose of heat dissipation. Usually, this cold plate is designed as an efficient heat conduction structure, and efficient heat dissipation is achieved by flowing coolant through the pipes. It is widely used in high-power density electronic equipment, laser cooling systems, and various industrial equipment.

Thermal conduction efficiency: The thermal conductivity of the tubular cold plate usually depends on the thermal conductivity of the material used. For example, the thermal conductivity of aluminum is about 205 W/m·K, while the thermal conductivity of copper can reach 390 W/m·K. Therefore, under high heat load conditions, copper tubular cold plates can provide better heat dissipation performance than aluminum cold plates.

Processing machines

CNC machine tools (CNC): CNC machine tools can achieve a processing accuracy of 0.01 mm, ensuring the accuracy of the cold plate shape and hole position.

Laser cutting machine: Laser cutting can ensure that the material cutting accuracy is within ±0.1 mm, and is suitable for high-precision cutting of various metal materials.

Automated pipe welding equipment: The accuracy of the welding process is usually controlled at 0.1 mm, ensuring that the welding gap between the pipe and the cold plate bottom plate is minimized to avoid leakage.

Cooling system test device: Test the flow rate and temperature change of the coolant to ensure that the heat dissipation performance of each cold plate meets the design requirements. Common test parameters include the flow rate of the coolant (usually 1–5 L/min) and the temperature difference of the cold plate (typically 5–10°C).

Processing technology

Accuracy of pipeline layout: When designing the pipeline, the fluid path of the cooling pipeline is usually simulated by finite element analysis (FEA) to ensure that each pipeline can evenly distribute the coolant and maximize the heat exchange efficiency.

Welding accuracy: Precision automated welding technology is used to ensure the strength and sealing of the welding parts. The welding quality inspection pass rate is usually 100%, and it will not affect the precision of the overall structure.

Material selection

Aluminum alloy (Al6061): Aluminum has a thermal conductivity of 205 W/m·K and is a common material for manufacturing tubular cold plates. Aluminum alloy has a light weight and good corrosion resistance, which is suitable for general electronic equipment.

Copper (Cu): Copper has a thermal conductivity of 390 W/m·K and is suitable for applications that require efficient heat dissipation, such as high-power lasers and motor cooling systems.

Stainless steel (304/316): Stainless steel has a low thermal conductivity of only 15–20 W/m·K, but has very strong corrosion resistance and is suitable for chemical or high-temperature environments.

Precision

The precision of the tubular cold plate is key to ensuring the effective operation of the thermal management system. Generally, the tolerance of the inner diameter of the pipe is controlled within ±0.05 mm, and the tolerance of the welding joint is controlled within ±0.1 mm. The error of the overall thickness of the cold plate is controlled within ±0.2 mm.

Surface treatment

Surface treatment can not only improve the corrosion resistance of the cold plate, but also improve its heat conduction efficiency. Common surface treatment technologies include:

Anodizing: After anodizing, an aluminum alloy cold plate forms an aluminum oxide film on the surface, with a thickness of generally 5–25 μm, which can effectively improve corrosion resistance and surface hardness.

Spraying: Spraying can increase the thickness of the surface coating (generally 20–50 μm), improve corrosion resistance and appearance, and is suitable for outdoor or extreme environments.

Electroplating: The thickness of the copper electroplating layer is generally 10–30 μm, and the nickel electroplating layer is 5–15 μm to improve thermal conductivity and enhance corrosion resistance.

Application Optimization

High-power-density electronic devices: For example, LED lighting, lasers, battery management systems, etc., tubular cold plates can quickly dissipate heat to ensure that the device temperature is controlled between 40–70°C to avoid overheating and damage to the device. For LED lighting, optimizing the heat dissipation effect can increase the service life of the lamp by more than 50%.

Precision instruments: For example, optical microscopes, X-ray machines and other equipment, tubular cold plates help these devices operate in a stable temperature range of 0°C to +50°C.

Automotive industry: The battery packs and motors of electric vehicles usually generate a lot of heat. Tubular cold plates ensure that the battery temperature is between 25°C and 40°C through precise temperature control design, extending the battery life.

Features and usage scenarios

Efficient heat conduction: Copper tubular cold plates provide higher thermal conductivity (390 W/m·K) and can handle higher power density heat sources. They are suitable for high heat load scenarios such as lasers and semiconductor cooling.

Customized design: The size, pipeline layout and structure of the cold plate can be customized according to the special needs of customers to meet the requirements of different heat dissipation scenarios.

Strong corrosion resistance: The corrosion resistance of the aluminum alloy cold plate after anodizing treatment can reach 2000 hours in a salt spray environment, which is very suitable for applications in harsh environments.

High reliability: The reliability of the cold plate is guaranteed by strict quality control and precision manufacturing. Test data shows that the failure rate of the cold plate produced by KingKa is less than 0.5% under normal use.

KingKa's customized tubular cold plates have achieved optimized thermal management in multiple industries with its advanced processing equipment and high-precision manufacturing process. Whether it is electronic equipment, lasers, automotive industry, or medical, aerospace and other fields, tubular cold plates can provide efficient heat dissipation solutions. Through precise material selection, processing accuracy and surface treatment technology, KingKa guarantees the excellent performance and long-term reliability of its products in various high-demand applications.