Analysis on thermo-mechanical stress of thermoelectric module

Abstract

This paper describes the thermo-mechanical performance of thermoelectric modules. A heat cycle test was performed in order to analyze the thermo-mechanical performance of modules of three different cross sectional area of elements. Modules of all the three types declined in generated output with the increase of heat cycles. It is considered that the decline of generated output was caused by the increase in the internal electrical resistance of each module. The increase of internal electrical resistance was caused by the poor contact between a thermoelectric element and a Cu electrode due to the deterioration of the solder at the contact with the increase of heat cycles.