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• 3D Printed Copper Cold Plates Could Cut Data Center Cooling Energy by 98% May 8
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Mechanical engineers at the University of Illinois have 3D printed pure copper cold plates that could reduce a data center’s cooling energy consumption from 550 megawatts to just 11 megawatts per gigawatt of computing power. The research, published May 7 in Cell Reports Physical Science, estimates the technology would account for only 1.1% of a data center’s total energy usage, compared to more than 30% for conventional air-cooling systems.
The team, led by MechSE Founder Professor Nenad Miljkovic and graduate student Behnood Bazmi, used a mathematical technique called topology optimization to design fins for the cold plates. Starting from a simple rectangle, the algorithm iterates through possible shapes, estimating cooling capability and pumping power requirements at each step until it