Researchers from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering UL Developed an Innovative Elastocaloric Cooling System
UL FS
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Researchers at the University of Ljubljana’s Faculty of Mechanical Engineering have developed a novel actuation system for elastocaloric cooling. Elastocaloric cooling is an emerging sustainable cooling technology that exploits temperature changes in solid-state materials subjected to cyclic mechanical loading and unloading. Considered one of the most promising next-generation cooling solutions, it offers the potential to eliminate the need for environmentally harmful refrigerants while achieving significantly higher energy efficiency than conventional vapor-compression refrigeration systems.
The research was carried out through a collaboration between the Laboratory for Non-linear Mechanics (LANEM) and the Laboratory for Modelling Machine Elements and Structures (LAMEK), both at the UL FS. The project was led by the elastocaloric research group headed by Assistant Professor Dr. Jaka Tušek. The system incorporates four phase-shifted elastocaloric elements and a custom-designed cam-disc actuation mechanism. By carefully synchronizing the operating phases of the individual elements, the design enables a theoretically constant load on the electric motor throughout the cooling cycle. The rotating profiled cam generates a precisely defined follower motion, ensuring accurate and repeatable control of the loading and unloading of the elastocaloric elements.
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One of the key challenges in advancing this technology remains the development of efficient and compact mechanical drive systems capable of delivering high forces while maintaining low energy consumption. Researchers at the UL FS experimentally demonstrated that their system achieves nearly constant drive-shaft torque and up to approximately 70% efficiency in mechanical work recovery at forces of up to 40 kN. Numerical simulations indicate that further optimization could increase this efficiency to as much as 88%.
“The key advantage of this solution is that it enables an almost perfectly uniform mechanical load on the drive system and efficient energy recovery during operation. This substantially reduces the required peak input power and paves the way for further optimization of the drive system, which is one of the main prerequisites for the future implementation of elastocaloric systems in real-world devices,” emphasized the study’s first author, Assistant Professor Dr. Andrej Žerovnik.
The head of the research group, Assistant Professor Dr. Jaka Tušek, added: “The developed solution represents a significant breakthrough in elastocaloric technology because it directly addresses one of the key limiting factors in the transition from laboratory demonstrators to practical cooling and heating systems. We are particularly pleased that we have also filed a patent application for the developed concept, which confirms its application potential and innovative value.”
The new approach enables a more compact, mechanically balanced, and energy-efficient device design, bringing elastocaloric technology significantly closer to practical implementation and commercialization.
The study, entitled Efficient Elastocaloric Drive System Enabled by Constant-Torque and Work-Recovery Design, was conducted by Assistant Professor Dr. Andrej Žerovnik, Dr. Stefan Dall’Olio, Assistant Professor Dr. Simon Krašna, Dr. Žiga Ahčin, and Assistant Professor Dr. Jaka Tušek. The research was supported by two grants from the European Research Council (ERC)—a Starting Grant and a Proof of Concept Grant—as well as by the Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency (ARIS). The results were published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature Communications.
