Fluid Flow and Temperature Distribution in Microchannel Heat Sink with Z-Type Flow Arrangement: An Experimental Investigation

Abstract

For safe operation and to avoid the failure of electronic packages due to excess heating, it is required to keep the device temperature below critical limits. Parallel microchannels with liquid coolant have been employed in order to optimize fluid flow and get the desired cooling of electronic devices. The present study is an experimental investigation carried out to obtain temperature distribution across the surface of the heat sink which is attached to a representative electronic package. The focus of the study is towards obtaining fluid flow uniformity and conformal cooling with a specific design of microchannel heat sink (MCHS). MCHS is fabricated on 20 mm × 20 mm ×2 mm heat sink made of copper having 10 parallel microchannels. The aim is to observe the effect of Reynolds Numbers and heat flux on temperature distribution in MCHS with a Z-type flow arrangement. It is observed that the higher heat flux of 75 W/cm2 is not adequate to cool down and maintain the critical temperature limit of 75 ℃ on MCHS at a lower Reynolds number of 600. It is also observed that the maximum reduction of hot spot temperature of more than 30% is achieved at a higher Reynolds number of 800.