Effect of orientation angle in thermal performance analysis of a horizontal heat sink of perforated pin fins

Abstract

In the present work, a detailed CFD (computational fluid dynamics) simulation is carried out to investigate the performance of a horizontal heat sink with vertical perforated pin-fin-array. The pin fins are embedded in a staggered arrangement on the base-plate of the horizontal sink. The objective of this study is to examine the effect of the orientation angle (β) on the performance of the heat sink. β is varied from 0° to 360° by rotating the horizontal sink about a vertical axis passing through the centre of the sink. Results are taken over a wide range of inflow Reynolds number (Re) to explore the possibility for obtaining an optimum orientation angle (β) for which thermal performance would be the maximum. The results are also generated for solid fin with same dimension. It is found that highest Nu is achieved at β=180°for perforated fin array, however, for solid fin optimum angle hovers around β = 120°.In the present work, a detailed CFD (computational fluid dynamics) simulation is carried out to investigate the performance of a horizontal heat sink with vertical perforated pin-fin-array. The pin fins are embedded in a staggered arrangement on the base-plate of the horizontal sink. The objective of this study is to examine the effect of the orientation angle (β) on the performance of the heat sink. β is varied from 0° to 360° by rotating the horizontal sink about a vertical axis passing through the centre of the sink. Results are taken over a wide range of inflow Reynolds number (Re) to explore the possibility for obtaining an optimum orientation angle (β) for which thermal performance would be the maximum. The results are also generated for solid fin with same dimension. It is found that highest Nu is achieved at β=180°for perforated fin array, however, for solid fin optimum angle hovers around β = 120°.