Thermal Management for High Heat-Flux and High-Temperature Applications

Submission Deadline: 10 March 2026 View: 223 Submit to Special Issue

Guest Editors

Assoc. Prof. Mehdi Kabir

Email: Kabir@alfred.edu

Affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kazuo Inamori School of Engineering, Alfred University, 1 Saxon Drive, Alfred, NY 14802, USA.

Homepage:

Research Interests: multiphase heat transfer, thermal management with PCMs, additive manufacturing, smart thermal coatings, renewable & electrochemical energy systems

Summary

As modern technologies advance towards higher performance and miniaturization, thermal management has become a critical design priority in systems exposed to high heat fluxes and elevated temperatures. Such extreme operating conditions accelerate degradation of key components, limit the system performance, and pose serious safety and reliability concerns. Applications appearing in aerospace, hypersonic vehicles, power electronics and microelectronics, high-performance computing and data centers, concentrated solar-thermal power, nuclear fusion reactors, defense-sector laser and radar systems, and advanced manufacturing demand innovative thermal control strategies to ensure efficiency and reliability. Conventional cooling techniques are often inadequate under such conditions, underscoring the need for new materials, architectures, and integrated solutions capable of withstanding thermal extremes.

This special issue aims to provide a focused platform for cutting-edge research in thermal management technologies tailored to high heat-flux and high-temperature environments. We welcome contributions from both types of original research articles and reviews, reflecting the latest advances in the field. The issue will feature multidisciplinary approaches that span material development, design innovation, high-fidelity modeling, and system-level integration. By fostering collaboration across domains, it seeks to accelerate breakthroughs that address the thermal challenges of next-generation systems.

Themes and topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
· Two-phase flow systems for passive and active thermal control and management (e.g., loop heat pipes, vapor chambers, thermosyphons, pumped two-phase cooling, etc.).
· Single-phase flow benefiting from novel heat transfer fluids in mini-/micro-channels.
· Development and engagement of novel phase-change materials (e.g., nano-enhanced PCMs, micro-encapsulated PCMs, 3D-printed PCMs, Low Melting Point Alloys—LMPAs, etc.) into thermal control systems.
· Innovative design, fabrication, and testing of heat exchangers enabled by additive manufacturing (AM) of metal and non-metal components, including AM porous wick and lattice structures.
· Nanoengineered and multifunctional surfaces for thermal regulation, including both thermal barrier and thermal control coatings (e.g., thermochromic and electrochromic variable emittance coatings).
· Phase-change heat transfer on hydrophobic/hydrophilic/biphilic surfaces.
· Application of artificial intelligence and machine learning to thermal management (e.g., AI-/ML-assisted battery management systems).

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