Industries · Telecom & Data Center
Data center liquid cooling with aluminum cold plates
AI and GPU racks have pushed heat density past what air can move. We build the aluminum liquid cold plates, server enclosures and manifolds that carry that heat out — vacuum brazed, leak tested, made to your thermal spec.
Why data centers are moving to liquid cooling
Air cooling hits a wall around 20–30 kW per rack. Liquid moves roughly 1,000× more heat per litre, so high-density rows need cold plates.
Data center liquid cooling means removing heat from servers with a fluid instead of room air. The dominant form in racks is direct-to-chip cold plates: a metal plate clamped to the device with coolant flowing through internal channels. Aluminum is the default plate material because it conducts heat well, is light, and can be brazed into complex internal passage shapes at low cost. We supply the aluminum hardware for this — the plate, the manifolds that distribute coolant, and the enclosures that hold the boards — built from your drawing and validated before shipment.
The driver is density. A single AI accelerator now dissipates several hundred watts; a rack of them can exceed a megawatt. Air cannot remove that without extreme fan power and noise. A cold plate sitting on the device pulls heat straight into coolant at the source, cutting the thermal-resistance path by an order of magnitude versus a heatsink-in-air. That is why data center cooling, data center thermal management and server rack cooling programs all converge on liquid loops once rack power climbs.
Aluminum cold plates for servers
Vacuum-brazed plates sized to your device footprint, flow rate and pressure limit.
Vacuum-brazed plates
Tube-in-plate and milled-channel designs, brazed in vacuum for clean internal joints and no flux residue.
See cold plates →Manifolds
Distribute and collect coolant across a row of plates; balanced flow keeps device temperatures even.
Leak testing
Helium or pressure-decay tested; we report the method and limit per your acceptance plan.
Plate size, channel geometry, max pressure and flow rate are confirmed against your drawing and braze spec — typical production ranges are given on the cold-plate page.
How we build a cold plate
From your thermal file to a tested part, in a short chain we control end to end.
Define
You give device footprint, dissipation, coolant and allowable pressure drop. We set channel geometry and braze method.
Form
Base and cover are extruded or milled, then vacuum brazed so internal joints are continuous and flux-free.
Finish
Machined ports, fittings and mounting seats; anodize or passivation where the spec calls for it.
Test
Helium or pressure-decay leak test to your limit; flow and pressure verified, report shipped with the part.
Server enclosures and chassis
The rack needs a structure that seats the boards, plates and coolant lines without shorting or leaking.
We extrude the side rails, stiffeners and housing sections of server chassis, then CNC-machine the openings for plates, connectors and coolant fittings. Extrusion gives long, straight, stiff members cheaply; machining gives the precise seats the cold plates bolt to. For rows that need shielding, we add EMC grooves and gasket channels in the same extruded section, then anodize or powder coat to the IP class you specify and confirm it on the finished part.
Send us
- Device footprint and power dissipation (per device and per rack)
- Coolant type, flow rate and allowable pressure drop
- Plate size limits and mounting pattern
- IP / EMC / material-cert requirements
Liquid cooling vs air cooling
When to choose which — and why high-density rows go liquid.
| Factor | Air cooling | Liquid cold plate |
|---|---|---|
| Heat removed per rack | ~20–30 kW practical limit | 100 kW+ typical |
| Thermal path | Device → fin → air | Device → plate → coolant |
| Fan power / noise | High | Low at the device |
| Leak risk | None | Managed by braze + test |
Figures are typical engineering ranges; your design target is confirmed against the thermal spec you supply.
Applications we support
From AI training clusters to edge and telecom sites.
AI / GPU clusters
Direct-to-chip plates for accelerators and high-density training rows.
Edge data centers
Compact liquid loops where space and noise are tight.
Telecom cabinets
Rugged enclosures and plates for outdoor base stations (application display; volume varies by market).
Questions buyers ask first
Short, direct answers for thermal and procurement teams.
What is data center liquid cooling?
Data center liquid cooling is the practice of removing heat from servers with a fluid instead of room air. In most racks this means a cold plate clamped to the CPU or GPU, with coolant flowing through brazed aluminum channels and out to a heat exchanger. It is used when rack power exceeds what air can carry — typically above 20–30 kW per rack — and is the standard approach for AI and GPU-dense rows.
Why aluminum for cold plates?
Aluminum conducts heat well, is light, and can be brazed into complex internal channel shapes at low cost. Vacuum brazing joins the cover and base without flux residue, giving clean internal passages. For most server and power-electronics loops the thermal performance is sufficient and the weight and cost are far below copper, so aluminum is the default unless the spec calls for copper inserts at hot spots.
How do you control leak risk?
Leak risk is managed at two points. First, the plate is vacuum brazed so internal joints are continuous and flux-free. Second, every plate or manifold is leak tested — typically helium sniff or pressure-decay — to a limit stated in your acceptance plan, and we report the result with the shipment. Enclosure seals use specified gaskets and are verified to the IP class you require.
What do you need to quote a cold plate?
Send the device footprint and dissipation, the coolant type and target flow rate, the allowed pressure drop, the plate size and mounting pattern, and any IP / EMC / material-cert needs. From that we propose channel geometry, braze method and test plan, and return a DFM note with the quote.
Build your data-center cooling hardware
Send the thermal spec — we propose cold plates, manifolds and enclosures as one package.