Hydrodynamic Characteristics of Micro Heat Sinks With In-Line and Staggered Arrangements of Cylindrical Micro Pin Fins

Abstract

This study compares the hydraulic performance of rectangular micro heat sinks (MHS) with different in-line and staggered arrangements of micro pin fins (MPF). With fixed MHS dimensions of 50 × 1.5 × 0.1 mm3 (1 × w × h), the height (H) and diameter (D) of MPFs are both set to be 0.1 mm which corresponds to a fixed H/D ratio of 1 in all cases. Four in-line and four staggered arrangements of MPFs with alternative horizontal and vertical pitch ratios (SL/D and ST/D) of 1.5 and 3 are considered. Streamline profiles are used to illustrate the flow patterns and wake regions. Using ANSYS FLUENT v.14.5 for this single phase study, the simulations are done at five Reynolds numbers of 20, 40, 80, 120 and 150, ensuring the flow remains in the laminar flow regime. Considering water as the coolant, a constant heat flux of 30 W/cm2 is applied through the bottom surface of the MHS and the MPFs liquid interacting surfaces. The results show a great dependency of the evaluating parameters on the arrangement type, geometrical specification and Reynolds numbers. For pressure drop, clear comparison could be made regarding each of the geometrical specifications. However, the trends with friction factor depend on geometrical specification and Reynolds number at the same time.