Thermal resistance network model for heat sinks with serpentine channels

Abstract

SummarySerpentine channels in liquid cooling have received considerable attention for their high heat transfer coefficient and potential applications in high heat flux electronics. In this paper, a simple thermal resistance network model is proposed to simulate the thermal performance of heat sinks with serpentine channels. The model comprises a series of thermal resistance units connected by flow networks, which display the temperature and pressure distribution between units. By varying the Reynolds number of the fluid and the aspect ratio of the channel, temperature and pressure results of a 10‐channel serpentine heat sink are obtained and subsequently compared with full three‐dimensional computational fluid dynamics simulations. The results demonstrate that the model can predict the heat transfer characteristics of serpentine channels with high accuracy and significantly less computing time. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.