Thermal conductivity is not the only criteria to judge the performance of thermal management materials, compression, thermal resistance and application condition are to be taken into account.

Some purchasing officers don’t know well about thermal interface materials, they just pay attention to thermal conductivity, also many suppliers only stress thermal conductivity while ignoring other factors.

A robot manufacrurer consulted with me about high performance thermal gao pad, requesting a thermal conductivity of 5.0W/mK or higher, also low hardness, low stress are needed because this thermal gap pad will be applied to a fragile chip.

After learned about the application, I didn’t think it is necessary to use a thermal pad with a thermal conductivity of 5.0W/mK according to my experiences, of course it will not hinder heat transfer but increase cost. I recommended a 3.0W/mK thermal gap pad which can meet design requirement. “Actually we have tested 3.0W/mK thermal pad already, but performance is not good, temperature rise exceeded our expectation.”  In addition, heatsink will be fastened at either end, probably it bend middle part, making contact untight.

So I suggest customer use thermal gel XK-G30 instead of thermal gap filler pad. thermal gel will deflect under low compressive force, decreasing stress on component, especially low thermal resistance. Customer accepted my suggestion and wanted to test this thermal gel.

Test lasted for two weeks, temperature is as expected at 60 degree, thermal performance is excellent. Customer fixed thermal gel XK-G30 solution on site. There is no quality issue raised since this project have been launched for two years.

GLPOLY has provided thermal management materials for DJI and Han’s Laser without complaint in nine consecutive years.