Graduation Semester and Year
Fall 2025
Language
English
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering
Department
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
First Advisor
Dr. Dereje Agonafer
Second Advisor
Dr. Yogesh Fulpagare
Abstract
Data centers are rapidly scaling to support artificial intelligence, cloud platforms, and other high-performance workloads, driving a sharp increase in chip and rack power densities that are now approaching, and in some cases surpassing, 50–100 kW per rack. In response, direct-to-chip liquid cooling has become a key enabling technology for managing these extreme thermal loads, yet the durability of materials in contact with the coolant remains a major reliability concern over system lifetimes. Copper has traditionally been used for cold plates and cooling-loop components, but its relatively high cost, mass, and supply-chain uncertainty are motivating a shift toward aluminum as a lighter and more economical option. Aluminum’s low density improves handling and design flexibility, and its lower raw-material cost can reduce overall system capital expense, provided its corrosion performance in contemporary coolant chemistries is adequately controlled. This work systematically evaluates the corrosion behavior of aluminum under a range of surface treatments and modern data-center coolant formulations, revealing pronounced differences in susceptibility across combinations. The resulting insights clarify the conditions under which aluminum can function as a robust long-term substitute for copper in thermal-control system loops and cold-plate architectures used in next-generation high-density data centers-inhibiting capacities of the tested fluids across common aluminum surface treatments.
Keywords
D2C cooling, Liquid cooling, data centers, aluminum, corrosion, astm
Disciplines
Engineering | Heat Transfer, Combustion | Mechanical Engineering
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
HARISH GANGADHARA, FNU, "Materials Reliability in Direct-to-Chip Cooling: A Systematic Study of Aluminum Corrosion in Next-Generation Data Center Coolants" (2025). Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses. 1036.
https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/mechaerospace_theses/1036