Phase change materials can enhance the performance of energy systems by time shifting or reducing peak thermal loads. Certain electronic devices such as batteries, laser systems, or electric vehicle power electronics are highly transient and require pulse heat dissipation. Heat sinks, or thermal management devices made of a phase change material can absorb large heat spikes while maintaining a constant temperature. Additive manufacturing techniques hold tremendous potential to enable co-optimization of material properties and device geometry, while potentially reducing material waste and manufacturing time. Recently, a few efforts have emerged that employ additive manufacturing techniques to integrate a phase change material thermal energy storage into geometrically complex designs for advanced thermal management. This work contributes to the emerging field of research by reporting on the production of composite thermoplastic/phase change material filaments for fused filament fabrication 3D-printing, and their subsequent use to 3D-print advanced heat exchange topologies with intricate geometric features.
","abstract_html":"<p>Phase change materials can enhance the performance of energy systems by time shifting or reducing peak thermal loads. Certain electronic devices such as batteries, laser systems, or electric vehicle power electronics are highly transient and require pulse heat dissipation. Heat sinks, or thermal management devices made of a phase change material can absorb large heat spikes while maintaining a constant temperature. Additive manufacturing techniques hold tremendous potential to enable co-optimization of material properties and device geometry, while potentially reducing material waste and manufacturing time. Recently, a few efforts have emerged that employ additive manufacturing techniques to integrate a phase change material thermal energy storage into geometrically complex designs for advanced thermal management. This work contributes to the emerging field of research by reporting on the production of composite thermoplastic/phase change material filaments for fused filament fabrication 3D-printing, and their subsequent use to 3D-print advanced heat exchange topologies with intricate geometric features.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Freeman, Thomas B."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering","degree_level":"Dissertation - Open Access","degree_discipline":"Mechanical Engineering","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2023,"date_issued":"2023-04-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2023-04-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:25:10Z","subjects":["Phase Change Material","Thermal Energy Storage","Heat Exchanger","Fused Filament Fabrication","Energy Systems","Heat Transfer, Combustion","Polymer and Organic Materials"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.erau.edu/edt/733","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Freeman, Thomas B."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Mechanical Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation - Open Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Phase Change Material","Thermal Energy Storage","Heat Exchanger","Fused Filament Fabrication","Energy Systems","Heat Transfer, Combustion","Polymer and Organic Materials"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.erau.edu/edt/733"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Phase change materials can enhance the performance of energy systems by time shifting or reducing peak thermal loads. Certain electronic devices such as batteries, laser systems, or electric vehicle power electronics are highly transient and require pulse heat dissipation. Heat sinks, or thermal management devices made of a phase change material can absorb large heat spikes while maintaining a constant temperature. Additive manufacturing techniques hold tremendous potential to enable co-optimization of material properties and device geometry, while potentially reducing material waste and manufacturing time. Recently, a few efforts have emerged that employ additive manufacturing techniques to integrate a phase change material thermal energy storage into geometrically complex designs for advanced thermal management. This work contributes to the emerging field of research by reporting on the production of composite thermoplastic/phase change material filaments for fused filament fabrication 3D-printing, and their subsequent use to 3D-print advanced heat exchange topologies with intricate geometric features.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Additive Manufacturing for Phase Change Thermal Energy Storage and Management"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Freeman, Thomas B."],"dc:description.abstract":["Phase change materials can enhance the performance of energy systems by time shifting or reducing peak thermal loads. Certain electronic devices such as batteries, laser systems, or electric vehicle power electronics are highly transient and require pulse heat dissipation. Heat sinks, or thermal management devices made of a phase change material can absorb large heat spikes while maintaining a constant temperature. Additive manufacturing techniques hold tremendous potential to enable co-optimization of material properties and device geometry, while potentially reducing material waste and manufacturing time. Recently, a few efforts have emerged that employ additive manufacturing techniques to integrate a phase change material thermal energy storage into geometrically complex designs for advanced thermal management. This work contributes to the emerging field of research by reporting on the production of composite thermoplastic/phase change material filaments for fused filament fabrication 3D-printing, and their subsequent use to 3D-print advanced heat exchange topologies with intricate geometric features.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.erau.edu/edt/733"],"dc:subject":["Phase Change Material","Thermal Energy Storage","Heat Exchanger","Fused Filament Fabrication","Energy Systems","Heat Transfer, Combustion","Polymer and Organic Materials"],"dc:title":["Additive Manufacturing for Phase Change Thermal Energy Storage and Management"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Mechanical Engineering"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation - Open Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:25:10Z"}