Numerical study of liquid jet impingement flow and heat transfer of a cone heat sink

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the flow and heat transfer characteristics of the jet impingement onto a conical heat sink and evaluate the ability of heat transfer enhancement.Design/methodology/approachA numerical study of the flow and heat transfer of liquid impingement on cone heat sinks was conducted, and transition SST turbulence model was validated and adopted. The flow and thermal performances were investigated with the Reynolds number that ranges from 5,000 to 23,000 and cone angle that ranges from 0° to 70° in four regions.FindingsLocal Nusselt numbers are large, and pressure coefficients drop rapidly near the stagnation point. In the conical bottom edge, a secondary inclined jet was observed, thereby introducing a horseshoe vortex that causes drastic fluctuations in the curves of the flow and heat transfer. The average Nusselt numbers are higher in a conical protuberance than in flat plates in most cases, thus indicating that the heat transfer performance of jet impingement can be improved by a cone heat sink. The maximum increase is 13.6 per cent when the cone angle is 60°, and the Reynolds number is 23,000.Originality/valueThe flow and heat transfer behavior at the bottom edge of the cone heat sink is supplemented. The average heat transfer capacity of different heat transfer radii was evaluated, which provided a basis for the study of cone arrays.