Experimental and Analytical Studies of Reciprocating Flow Heat Transfer in a Reciprocating Loop Device for Electronics Cooling

Abstract

The thermal management of electronics is essential, since their lifetime and reliability are highly dependent on their operating temperature and temperature uniformity. Regarding that, Reciprocating-Mechanism Driven Heat Loop (RMDHL) technology has been invented and shows potentiality to become an effective high heat flux cooling system. In this paper, the performance of a reciprocating cooling loop, in terms of heat transfer and temperature distribution, is studied experimentally and analytically. The experimental results showed that, as the reciprocating flow amplitude increases, the loop surface temperature decreases, and the temperature uniformity along the loop improves. However, in contrast to the amplitude effect, a higher frequency may not necessarily improve the temperature uniformity, although the condenser section temperature may be lower. Further, adiabatic section temperature appears to be insensitive to the reciprocating frequency. The experimental results were then summarized in a semi-empirical correlation that demonstrates a useful design tool for the thermal engineer community. Additionally, the analytical results provide critical design requirements that should be considered during Reciprocating-Mechanism Driven Heat Loop (RMDHL) system design.