Comparison of the parallel microchannel and Pin-Fin heat Sinks: An experimental study

Abstract

The present study reports an experimental study for parallel microchannel and pin–fin heat sinks performance. Copper heat sinks are selected and used with DI water as a coolant at different flow rates. Both thermal and hydraulic characteristics are analyzed in terms of substrate temperature, pressure drop, pumping power, and thermal resistance. It is found that the thermal resistance reduces with increasing the pumping power for both the heat sinks however with different rates and magnitudes. Also, thermal resistance reduces and pressure drop increases with increasing Reynolds numbers for both the designs. Parallel microchannel heat sink performed better in comparison to the pin fin heat sink exhibiting lower thermal resistance pumping power under similar heat flux conditions. However, the pressure drop is more in the case of the parallel microchannel heat sink relative to the pin fin heat sink. The study demonstrated that the size of the parallel channels, the thickness of the pin fins, and the base remarkably affected the heat flux removed and temperature rise of the copper substrate.