Convective Heat Transfer of Parallel-Flow and Counter-Flow Double-Layer Microchannel Heat Sinks in Staggered Arrangement
Previous research has proved Double-layer Microchannel Heat Sinks (MHSs) to be efficient ways to improve the cooling performance of electronic devices. However, the cooling potential of the upper working liquid cannot be fully utilized to cool down the substrate with the heated elements. In this sense, a concept of staggered double-layer MHS is proposed and designed. The parallel and counter flow directions are considered to investigate the flow arrangement effect. The Reynolds number effect, Nusselt number and pressure drop are analyzed in detail and compared with those of a parallel straight double-layer MHS. It is found that the staggered double-layer MHSs exhibit much better heat transfer enhancement and overall thermal performance compared with the parallel straight double-layer MHS. For the staggered double-layer MHSs, the counter flow case is superior to the parallel flow case. This research provides a new structure design to enhance the heat transfer in microchannel heat sinks and broad application prospects for heat sinks in the thermal management of high power density electronic devices.