Bachelor's Thesis project, Guide: Prof Sandip Saha, IIT Bombay, India

DOI: 10.1615/IHMTC-2025.1840

Stator Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) offer an efficient and compact alternative to traditional stators with higher design flexibility. The thermal management of such high-current-density PCBs becomes a crucial bottleneck for their performance and efficiency. One promising solution is the use of embedded microchannels for direct cooling of the copper traces within the PCB. This study explores the use of Solid-Solid Phase Change Material (SS-PCM) slurries for effective cooling of these copper windings at high current densities. A simulation framework is established to model heat removal from copper windings using two SS-PCM slurries (X55 and NPG-CuO composite), and their performance is benchmarked against the conventional dielectric coolant HFE-7100. Parametric studies are conducted to evaluate the effects of flow rate, and current density on trace temperature, phase fraction, and pressure drop. Results indicate that using SS-PCM slurries reduced the trace temperature by up to 14 °C compared to HFE-7100. However, the improvement in thermal performance diminishes at higher flow rates due to lower phase fractions while leading to increased pressure drops, indicating the existence of optimal operating conditions. These findings show the potential of SS-PCM slurries for efficient thermal management of high-power-density electronics

Guide: Prof Shohel Mahmud, University of Guelph, Canada

A battery thermal management system (BTMS) is crucial to the sustained functioning of an electric vehicle's battery. Research studies have focused on the application of various methods for cooling batteries in warm-ambient conditions. Still, very little research has been conducted on using these BTM systems to prevent thermal shocks due to sudden temperature drops in cold-ambient conditions. 

This project aimed to fill this gap by studying the performance of Thermoelectric cooler-assisted Phase Change Material-based BTMS for cold environment conditions. Numerical simulations were conducted to study the effect of the Peltier current and the number of Peltier modules on the cooling system's performance. Results suggest that the proposed cooling system can maintain the batteries in the operational temperature range for long durations of time after the electric vehicle is shut down, which can help prevent cold starts and extend the battery life of the vehicle.

Project Report 

Guide: Dr. Abhilash Mony, ISRO Inertial Systems Unit, India

A reaction wheel system is widely used in spacecrafts as an actuator for mitigation of external disturbance torques. A wheel cluster with more than three wheels has infinite ways of momentum distribution between the wheels. This project focused on study and optimization of these momentum distribution schemes. A literature review focusing on momentum distribution laws used in multi-wheel configurations like Pseudoinverse (L2) & Minimax (L∞) was performed. A MATLAB code was developed implementing various momentum distribution strategies, and a new strategy was suggested involving smartly choosing the wheel bias momentum, achieving improved wheel saturation times.