The main objective of this experimental study is investigation of using phase change material (PCM) on the performance of a printed circuit board (PCB), as an electronic chipset. To this end, by a comparative study, the effects of using two types of PCMs (RT42 and RT35/CH), which have different melting points and latent heat of fusions, are examined on the cooling performance of the module under both free and forced convection. Experiments are conducted under two heat fluxes of 45 and 60 W. After selecting the appropriate PCM in terms of time to reach the critical temperature of 80 °C, the response surface method (RSM) is utilized to extract predictive models for considered responses. The predictive equations estimate the cooling performance of the PCM-based heat sink by considering PCM volume fraction and fan speed as two important independent design parameters in this study. By using RSM, the interaction effects of different factors on responses, and their grade of importance are presented. Under free convection condition, using PCM could significantly improve the usage time of the module and the enhancement ratio, especially in low heat flux of 45 W. Increasing the PCM volume fraction enhanced the usage time for both considered PCMs, although the RT42 showed better performance in all studied volume fractions compared to the RT35 HC. Comparison of two PCMs shows the superiority of using RT42 under both applied heat fluxes and operating condition. For the heat flux of 45 W, the highest thermal effectiveness is found for RT45 PCM/30 % (9.73) and for the heat flux of 60 it is found for RT45 PCM/90 % (3.67). According to the RSM, the PCM volume fraction significantly affects the cooling performance in comparison with the fan voltage.

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