R.A. Wirtz

Research

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Research Overview (26 Mb)

• Thermal Energy Storage Materials for Application to On-Demand Cooling of Handheld Electronic Devices, Intel Corp.

  • Thermal Characterization of Phase Change Material Composites Used in Hand-Held Mobile Electronics, Nevada Applied Research Initiative (matching funds)

• Reticulated Filament Surface Enhancements for Two-Phase Convection Cooling of Electronics, Office of Naval Research

• Surface Treatments for Enhanced Geothermal Power Plant Boiler/Condenser Performance (with Kwang Kim) DOE/NREL

• Enhanced Extended-Surfaces for two-phase pump-less cooling loops, Intel Corp

  • Reticulated-Filament Surface Enhancements for Sub-atmospheric Pressure Boiling of Water, Nevada Applied Research Initiative (matching funds)

Recent Projects

• Structurally Efficient Anisotropic Organized Reticulated Structures For Cooling Of Electronics And Sensors (with Janyao Jiang) MDA/AFOSR, DEPSCoR.

• Flow Boiling in Woven Mesh Structures for Cooling of High-Power Micro-Electronics, NASA

• Optical Diagnostics for MITL Plasma Research (Participant), Nevada Terawatt Facility

• Multi-Functional Materials for Thermal Control of Sensors and Electronics, (with Yanyao Jiang and Alan Fuchs) MDA/AFOSR DEPSCoR.

• High Performance Woven Mesh Heat Exchange, MDA/AFOSR DEPSCoR.

• Thermal energy storage composites for electronics temperature control, (with A. Fuchs) Intel Corp., Portland OR.

• Temperature Stabilization of Unsteady Power Electronics”, Intel Corp., Portland OR

• ENDOTHERMIC / EXOTHERMIC COMPOSITES FOR THERMAL MANAGEMENT", Sierra Nevada R&D Inc,  AFRL/PRKA (MDA).

• USE OF THERMOCOUPLES FOR THERMAL STUDIES OF HDSL REPEATERS, Anacapa Technologies

• Experimental Measurement and Numerical Modeling of Augmented Heat Transfer in Intermittently Grooved Channels, with M. Greiner, NSF .

Recent Student Theses

• Ning Zheng (2001) "Methodology and Figures of Merit for Designing a Hybrid Thermal Energy Storage Unit", Ph.D. Dissertation, Mechanical Engineering Department/MS312, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557

• Ji-Wook Park (2001) “Thermal/fluid characteristics of Isotropic plain-weave screen laminates as heat exchange surfaces”, M.S. Thesis, Mechanical Engineering Department/MS 312, University of Nevada, Reno, NV  89557.

• D. Ruch (2001) ”Thermal/Fluid Characteristics Of 3-D Woven Mesh Structures As Heat Exchanger Surfaces“, MS Thesis, M. E. Dept, Univ. Nevada, Reno NV  89557

• Jun Xu (2001) “Effective Thermal Conductivity of Screen Laminate Composites”, MS Thesis, M. E. Dept., Univ. Nevada, Reno, NV 89557

• Chen Li (2002) “Development of a High Performance Heat Sink Pased on Serpentine Woven Mesh Technology”, MS Thesis, M. E. Dept., Univ. Nevada, Reno, NV 89557

• Shuo Peng (2003) "Thermophysical Property Characterization of Novel Polymer and composite Systems" (with A. Fuchs) Ph.D. Dissertation, Chemical Engineering Division, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557

• Venkat Narla (2003) "Multifunctional Materials for Thermal Control of Sensors and Electronics: Thermal Characterization", MS Thesis, M. E. Dept., Univ. Nevada, Reno, NV 89557

• Tianwen Zhao (2003) "Multifunctional Materials for Thermal Control of Sensors and Electronics: Mechanical Characterization", (with Y. Jiang) MS Thesis, M. E. Dept., Univ. Nevada, Reno, NV 89557

• Yuyi Shen (2003) "Multifunctional Materials for Thermal Control of Sensors and Electronics: Materials Characterization", (with A. Fuchs) MS Thesis, Chemical Engineering Division, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557

• Nuray Ozman (2004) "Flow Boiling of FC-72 in Screen Laminations for Cooling of Microelectronics", MS Thesis, M. E. Dept., Univ. Nevada, Reno, NV 89557

• Paul Laca (2004) "Development of Laser Diagnostics on a Two Terawatt Pulsed Power Accelerator", MS Thesis, M. E. Dept., Univ. Nevada, Reno, NV 89557

• Sidigonde Soma Shekar (2004) "Thermal Performance Of Plain-Weave Screen As A Heat Exchanger Surface In Parallel Plate Free Convection", MS Thesis, M. E. Dept., Univ. Nevada, Reno, NV 89557

• Kiran Balantrapu (2005) "Thermal-Fluid Characteristics of Open Lattice Structures as Heat Exchange Matrices" MS Thesis, M. E. Dept., Univ. Nevada, Reno, NV 89557

• Deepti Sarde (2006) "Thermal/ Fluid Characteristics of Elliptic Cross-Section Filament Box-Lattices as Heat Exchanger Surfaces" MS Thesis, M. E. Dept., Univ. Nevada, Reno, NV 89557

• Ben Holland (2006) "Flow Boiling of FC-72 from a Screen Laminate Extended Surface Matrix" MS Thesis, M. E. Dept., Univ. Nevada, Reno, NV 89557