2026-08-10 · 4 min
Problem: AI Cold Plate Flatness Fails After Finish — Keep the Thermal Face Clean
Problem: accelerator cold plates meet thickness in-process, then after anodize or plating the contact face bows past 0.05–0.1 mm and TIM / liquid interface leaks heat.
Root cause: whole-part cosmetic finish with no masking; copper chosen late without lead-time buffer; sealing ports underspecified on the PDF.
Fix: as-machined thermal face; mask threads / ports; lock Al vs Cu on the first quote; sample flatness before ship.
Lead sketch: Standard ≈ 8–10 days with finish; Express when blank + light finish allow. Courier days stay separate.
Next: open the AI hardware industry page, then upload STEP + PDF on the quote page with flatness callouts.
