A Three-Dimensional Simulation Analysis of Fluid Flow and Heat Transfer in Microchannel Heat Sinks with Different Structures

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jienan Shen ◽  
Xiuxiu Li ◽  
Yongsheng Zhu ◽  
Boya Zhang ◽  
Hang Guo ◽  
...  

Abstract Numerical studies have been performed to analyze the fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics of nine microchannel heat sinks (MCHS) with different shapes and different arrangements of the ribs and cavities on the sidewalls, using three common shapes (square, triangle, and circular) of ribs or cavities as the basic structure in this work. The boundary conditions, governing equations, friction factor (f), Nusselt number (Nu), and performance evaluation criteria (ξ) were considered to determine which design was the best in terms of the heat transfer, the pressure drop, and the overall performance. It was observed that no matter how the circular ribs or cavities were arranged, its heat sink performance was better than the other two shapes for Reynolds number of 200–1000. Therefore, circular ribs or cavities can be considered as the best structure to improve the performance of MCHS. In addition, the heat sink performance of the microchannel heat sink with symmetrical circular ribs (MCHS-SCR) was improved by 31.2 % compared with the conventional microchannel heat sink at Re = 667. This was because in addition to the formation of transverse vortices in the channel, four symmetrical and reverse longitudinal vortices are formed to improve the mixing efficiency of the central fluid (low temperature) and the near-wall fluid (high temperature). Then, as the Reynolds number increases, the heat sink performance of MCHS-SCR dropped sharply. The heat sink performance of microchannel heat sinks with staggered ribs and cavities (MCHS-SCRC, MCHS-STRC, and MCHS-SSRC) exceeded that of MCHS-SCR. This indicated that the microchannel heat sink with staggered ribs and cavities was more suitable for high Reynolds number (Re > 800).

2004 ◽  
Vol 126 (2) ◽  
pp. 247-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duckjong Kim ◽  
Sung Jin Kim

In the present work, a compact modeling method based on a volume-averaging technique is presented. Its application to an analysis of fluid flow and heat transfer in straight fin heat sinks is then analyzed. In this study, the straight fin heat sink is modeled as a porous medium through which fluid flows. The volume-averaged momentum and energy equations for developing flow in these heat sinks are obtained using the local volume-averaging method. The permeability and the interstitial heat transfer coefficient required to solve these equations are determined analytically from forced convective flow between infinite parallel plates. To validate the compact model proposed in this paper, three aluminum straight fin heat sinks having a base size of 101.43mm×101.43mm are tested with an inlet velocity ranging from 0.5 m/s to 2 m/s. In the experimental investigation, the heat sink is heated uniformly at the bottom. The resulting pressure drop across the heat sink and the temperature distribution at its bottom are then measured and are compared with those obtained through the porous medium approach. Upon comparison, the porous medium approach is shown to accurately predict the pressure drop and heat transfer characteristics of straight fin heat sinks. In addition, evidence indicates that the entrance effect should be considered in the thermal design of heat sinks when Re Dh/L>∼O10.


Author(s):  
Duckjong Kim ◽  
Sung Jin Kim

In the present work, a novel compact modeling method based on the volume-averaging technique and its application to the analysis of fluid flow and heat transfer in pin fin heat sinks are presented. The pin fin heat sink is modeled as a porous medium. The volume-averaged momentum and energy equations for fluid flow and heat transfer in pin fin heat sinks are obtained using the local volume-averaging method. The permeability, the Ergun constant and the interstitial heat transfer coefficient required to solve these equations are determined experimentally. To validate the compact model proposed in this paper, 20 aluminum pin fin heat sinks having a 101.43 mm × 101.43 mm base size are tested with an inlet velocity ranging from 1 m/s to 5 m/s. In the experimental investigation, the heat sink is heated uniformly at the bottom. Pressure drop and heat transfer characteristics of pin fin heat sinks obtained from the porous medium approach are compared with experimental results. Upon comparison, the porous medium approach is shown to predict accurately the pressure drop and heat transfer characteristics of pin fin heat sinks. Finally, surface porosities of the pin fin heat sink for which the thermal resistance of the heat sink is minimal are obtained under constraints on pumping power and heat sink size. The optimized pin fin heat sinks are shown to be superior to the optimized straight fin heat sinks in thermal performance by about 50% under the same constraints on pumping power and heat sink size.


2012 ◽  
Vol 134 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. J. Lee ◽  
P. S. Lee ◽  
S. K. Chou

Sectional oblique fins are employed, in contrast to continuous fins in order to modulate the flow in microchannel heat sinks. The breakage of a continuous fin into oblique sections leads to the reinitialization of the thermal boundary layer at the leading edge of each oblique fin, effectively reducing the boundary layer thickness. This regeneration of entrance effects causes the flow to always be in a developing state, thus resulting in better heat transfer. In addition, the presence of smaller oblique channels diverts a small fraction of the flow into adjacent main channels. The secondary flows created improve fluid mixing, which serves to further enhance heat transfer. Both numerical simulations and experimental investigations of copper-based oblique finned microchannel heat sinks demonstrated that a highly augmented and uniform heat transfer performance, relative to the conventional microchannel, is achievable with such a passive technique. The average Nusselt number, Nuave, for the copper microchannel heat sink which uses water as the working fluid can increase as much as 103%, from 11.3 to 22.9. Besides, the augmented convective heat transfer leads to a reduction in maximum temperature rise by 12.6 °C. The associated pressure drop penalty is much smaller than the achieved heat transfer enhancement, rendering it as an effective heat transfer enhancement scheme for a single-phase microchannel heat sink.


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