Finite Element Analysis of Thermoelectric Generator with Aluminum Plate for Waste Heat Recovery Application

Thermoelectric generator (TEG) is the solid state device that converts the thermal gradient into electrical energy. TEG is widely used as the renewable energy source especially for the electronic equipment that operates with the small amount of electrical power. In the present analysis, the finite element analysis (FEA) using ANSYS is conducted on a model of the TEG attached with the aluminium, Al plate on the hot side of the TEG. This simple construction of TEG model was built in order to be used in the waste heat recovery application. It was shown that the changes of the width and thickness of the Al plate increased the temperature gradient between hot and cold sides of TEG. This directly increase the voltage produced by the TEG based on the Seeback effect. The increase of the thermal gradient due to the increment of thickness and width of Al plate might be because of the increase of thermal resistance of Al plate. Based on statistical analysis using full factorial of design of experiment, Al thickness play a major role in changing the performance of proposed TEG compared to that of Al width. This finding provides a valuable data in design process to build a good TEG attached with Al plate for the waste heat recovery application

Effect of isothermal aging and copper substrate roughness on the SAC305 solder joint intermetallic layer growth of high temperature storage (HTS)

This study aims to evaluate the effect of copper (Cu) substrate surface roughness on the intermetallic compound (IMC) growth and interfacial reaction of SAC305 lead-free solder joint after undergone an aging process. Aging process was conducted using high temperature storage (HTS) at temperature of 150 °C and aging times of 200, 400, 600, 800, and 1000 h. IMC morphology and growth were examined using infinite focus microscope (IFM). Then, the SAC305 solder joint IMC growth kinetic was measured based on power law relationship and diffusion coefficient formula. It was noted that the morphology of IMC for the rougher Cu substrate has scallop-shaped and uniform layer as compared to that of smoother Cu substrate for the initial exposure to the HTS. In addition, Cu substrate with Ra of 579 nm is the turning point for the creation of Cu6 Sn5 towards more Cu3 Sn of IMC. In addition, Cu substrate with Ra of 579 nm also acts as the turning point for the IMC growth of SAC305 solder joint on Cu substrate for the solid-state diffusion to be happened during 150 °C of aging from grain boundary dominant toward volume diffusion dominant

Rapid fabrication and characterization of PDMS microfluidics device using printed conductive silver ink

Currently, new fabrication methods for rapid prototyping of microfluidic devices has bring attention among researchers from various fields. The main reason is the use of lithographic equipment in standard fabrication method for master fabrication require trained personnel and high cost disposable materials. In this paper, a new fabrication method via printed conductive silver ink is introduced in order to minimize the current fabrication process through elimination of the photolithography process. As a result, a usable, faster and cost effective prototyping process of a microfluidic based biosensor devices able to be produced. In this method, the conductive silver ink was used to create a master template contains microchannel onto glass-reinforced epoxy laminate sheets (FR-4). Then, Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) were used to replicate the structure. Next, the digital microscope was used to obtain images to demonstrate geometry fluidics structure with channel dimension up to 200 µm width. Moreover, a 3D profilometer was used to evaluate their thickness and roughness of the microfluidics structure. The stability test demonstrates the consistency of flow sequence inside the serpentine and separation channel