Heat transfer enhancement of perforated pin heat sink in future aircraft applications

Abstract

Current paper for the first time is investigated the application of perforated pin heat sink in aerospace sector. There is always been a lack of studies evaluating the heat transfer performance of perforated pin heat sink considering liquid types of coolants. The combination of three main aspects having influence on heat transfer: the type of fluid flow (laminar or turbulent), type of working coolant (water, fuel, oil or air) and geometry configuration (solid or perforated pin fin heat sink) has been compared and analyzed. It is concluded that the thermal performance of perforated configuration is superior to solid pin fin geometry for the cases of laminar flow with any working coolant or turbulent flow when air is applied. In the event of turbulent flow with liquid types of coolant (water, fuel and oil), the effect of perforation cannot dominate the solid pin fin. Regarding the weight, the use of perforated pins can reduce half the weight of heat sink, which is very important for aerospace applications. The findings in the present study are useful during the selection the heat sink geometry to make certain the applied conditions (fluid flow and working coolant) and heat sink design configuration yield the highest heat transfer and the lowest weight contribution.