An Analytical Study of the Optimized Performance of an Impingement Heat Sink

Abstract

The results of a study of a new and unique high-performance air-cooled impingement heat sink are presented. An extensive numerical investigation of the heat sink performance is conducted and is verified by experimental data. The study is relevant to cooling of high-power chips and modules in air-cooled environments and applies to workstations or mainframes. In the study, a rectangular jet impinges on a set of parallel fins and then turns into cross flow. The effects of the fin thickness, gap nozzle width and fin shape on the heat transfer and pressure drop are investigated. It is found that pressure drop is reduced by cutting the fins in the central impingement zone without sacrificing the heat transfer due to a reduction in the extent of the stagnant zone. A combination of fin thicknesses of the order of 0.5 mm and channel gaps of 0.8 mm with appropriate central cutout yielded heat transfer coefficients over 1500 W/m2 K at a pressure drop of less than 100 N/m2, as is typically available in high-end workstations. A detailed study of flow-through heat sinks subject to the same constraints as the impingement heat sink showed that the flow-through heat sink could not achieve the high heat transfer coefficients at a low pressure drop.