Development of a Surrogate Model for a Phase Change Material Heat Sink for Thermal Buffering of Power Electronics

As power electronics in electric vehicles (EVs) become increasingly compact and powerdense, effective thermal management is critical. This study presents a computationally efficient surrogate model for evaluating phase change material (PCM)-based heat sinks, designed to mitigate peak thermal loads in silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETs. A resistor-capacitor (RC) network model was developed to simulate heat transfer through aluminum structures, PCM, and coolant flow. The model was validated against experimental data from a custom-built test setup. Results show strong agreement between simulation and experiment, confirming the model's utility for rapid design and optimization of PCM cooling systems.