Abstract
In this paper a numerical analysis of three-dimensional laminar flow through rectangular channel heat sinks of different geometric configuration is presented and a comparison of thermal performance among the heat sinks is discussed. Liquid water was used as coolant in the aluminum made heat sink with a glass cover above it. The aspect ratio (section height to width) of rectangular channels of the mini-channel heat sink was 0.33. A heat flux of 20 W/cm2 was continuously applied at the bottom of the channel with different inlet velocity for Reynold’s number ranging from 150 to 1044. Interconnectors and obstacles at different positions and numbers inside the channel were introduced in order to enhance the thermal performance. These modifications cause secondary flow between the parallel channels and the obstacles disrupt the boundary layer formation of the flow inside the channel which leads to the increase in heat transfer rate. Finally, Nusselt number, overall thermal resistance and maximum temperature of the heat sink were calculated to compare the performances of the modified heat sinks with the conventional mini channel heat sink and it was observed that the heat sink with both interconnectors and obstacles enhanced the thermal performance more significantly than other configurations. A maximum of 36% increase in Nusselt number was observed (for Re =1044).
Highlights
With the advancement of technology, the demand for small sized electronic devices is increasing
Tikadar et al [7] conducted a three dimensional numerical analysis which was for parallel and counter flow mini-channel heat sinks and observed that, interconnectors have a remarkable impact on the performance of counter flow mini-channel heat sinks, when it comes to parallel flow mini-channel heat sink it does not have much significance
Tikadar et al [9] at his theses took a novel approach by incorporating interconnectors in order to disrupt and redevelop boundary layer inside the channel, which led to improved thermal performance
Summary
With the advancement of technology, the demand for small sized electronic devices is increasing. As the traditional heat dissipation methods are not effective enough, there is a growing need for improving the heat transfer capability of heat sinks.The rate of heat flow increases with the decrement of hydraulic diameter, which leads to increasing heat transfer rate [2] Following this principle micro-channel and mini-channel heat sinks were designed. Various research works have been conducted to passively increase the hydrothermal performance of mini-channel and microchannel heat sinks.There are numerous ways of increasing the performance of mini-channel heat sink, such as, modifying geometry, increasing surface area, reducing thermal resistance, disruption of boundary layer formation, secondary flow introduction. To increase the secondary flow through the interconnectors, wall-jets or obstacles can be incorporated This geometric modification results in higher heat transfer rate by decreasing the thermal resistance inside the channel [8]. Tikadar et al [9] at his theses took a novel approach by incorporating interconnectors in order to disrupt and redevelop boundary layer inside the channel, which led to improved thermal performance
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