Graduation Semester and Year
Spring 2026
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
Third Advisor
Dr. Sunand Santhanagopalan
Abstract
As the rapid expansion of Artificial Intelligence (AI) infrastructure and High-Performance Computing (HPC) pushes power requirements to new heights, traditional air-cooling methods have become inadequate for modern server demands. Consequently, single-phase immersion cooling (SPIC) has emerged as one of the effective and sustainable alternatives, utilizing dielectric fluids to remove heat through direct contact with electronic components. Despite numerous thermal and reliability studies, the complex three-dimensional movement of buoyant thermal plumes around intricate component shapes are not yet fully understood in confined spaces.
This thesis provides a detailed characterization of Tomo-PIV and a component level experimental study of flow patterns in a natural convection immersion cooling environment using Tomographic Particle Image Velocimetry (Tomo-PIV). The Tomo-PIV setup uses a four-camera array and a volume-illuminating laser to reconstruct the complete three-dimensional velocity field by seeding the fluid with fluorescent micro-particles and using advanced 3D reconstruction and cross-correlation techniques. This research overcomes common challenges related to fluid-particle compatibility and optical clarity. Tomo-PIV helps to visualize three-dimensional flow with flow measurements, enabling us to detect flow maldistributions, flow bypass and identify stagnation points.
A component level flow analysis is made for two heat sinks of different materials and heatsink architecture. Flow features are analyzed for different heat fluxes to analyze the flow induced by varying load. Followed by the study of flow variation in the presence of DIMM modules around the heatsink, identification of stagnation points, flow bypass and changes in recirculation patterns, which can directly affect the thermal performance of the device. Collectively this work helps to understand component level flow features inside a natural convection immersion cooling environment and to visualize the flow pattern around the heat source. This work acts as a necessary precursor to advanced experimentation on complex and micro level flow visualization using Tomographic PIV.
Keywords
Tomographic PIV, Particle Image velocimetry, PIV, Natural Convection, Flow Visualization, Immersion cooling, Single phase
Disciplines
Energy Systems | Heat Transfer, Combustion
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
OOMMEN, JOEL JOSHUA, "CHARACTERIZATION OF TOMOGRAPHIC PIV SYSTEM FOR SINGLE-PHASE IMMERSION COOLING APPLICATIONS" (2026). Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses. 2.
https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/mechaerospace_theses2/2