Thermal performance of plate-fin heat sinks under confined impinging jet conditions

This paper utilizes the infrared thermography technique to investigate the thermal performance of plate-fin heat sinks under confined impinging jet conditions. The parameters in this study include the Reynolds number (Re), the impingement distance (Y/D), the width (W/L) and the height (H/L) of the fins, which cover the range Re = 5000–25,000, Y/D = 4–28, W/L = 0.08125–0.15625 and H/L = 0.375–0.625. The influences of these parameters on the thermal performance of the plate-fin heat sinks are discussed. The experimental results show that the thermal resistance of the heat sink apparently decreases as the Reynolds number increases; however, the decreasing rate of the thermal resistance declines with the increase of the Reynolds number. An appropriate impingement distance can decrease the thermal resistance effectively, and the optimal impingement distance is increased as the Reynolds number increases. Moreover, the influence of the impingement distance on the thermal resistance at high Reynolds numbers becomes less conspicuous because the magnitude of the thermal resistance decreases with the Reynolds number. An increase of the fin width reduces the thermal resistance initially. Nevertheless, the thermal resistance rises sharply when the fin width is larger than a certain value. Increasing the fin height can increase the heat transfer area which lowers the thermal resistance. Moreover, the influence of the fin height on the thermal resistance seems less obvious than that of the fin width. To sum up all experimental results, Reynolds number Re = 20,000, impingement distant Y/D = 16, fin width W/L = 0.1375, and fin height H/L = 0.625 are the suggested parameters in this study.     

Analytical and experimental investigations on fluid flow and thermal characteristics of a plate-fin heat sink subject to a uniformly impinging jet

In this paper, modified similarity solutions for velocity and temperature distributions in the heat sink subject to a uniformly impinging jet are presented. A heat sink is modeled as a fluid-saturated porous medium and a similarity transformation is employed. The Brinkman-extended Darcy equations for fluid flow and two-equation model for heat transfer are used as the governing equations. Specifically, a method for analytically determining the permeability and the interstitial heat transfer coefficient is presented. Experimental investigations are conducted to validate the proposed similarity solutions. From comparison of experimental and analytical results, the analytical results are shown to accurately predict the pressure drop and thermal resistance of the heat sink subject to the uniformly impinging jet.     

Measurement of performance of plate-fin heat sinks with cross flow cooling

This work assesses the performance of plate-fin heat sinks in a cross flow. The effects of the Reynolds number of the cooling air, the fin height and the fin width on the thermal resistance and the pressure drop of heat sinks are considered. Experimental results indicate that increasing the Reynolds number can reduce the thermal resistance of the heat sink. However, the reduction of the thermal resistance tends to become smaller as the Reynolds number increases. Additionally, enhancement of heat transfer by the heat sink is limited when the Reynolds number reaches a particular value. Therefore, a preferred Reynolds number can be chosen to reduce the pumping power. For a given fin width, the thermal performance of the heat sink with the highest fins exceeds that of the others, because the former has the largest heat transfer area. For a given fin height, the optimal fin width in terms of thermal performance increases with Reynolds number. As the fins become wider, the flow passages in the heat sink become constricted. As the fins become narrower, the heat transfer area of the heat sink declines. Both conditions reduce the heat transfer of the heat sink. Furthermore, different fin widths are required at different Reynolds numbers to minimize the thermal resistance.     

Thermal performance of plate-fin vapor chamber heat sinks

Since vapor chambers exhibit excellent thermal performance, they are suited to use as bases of heat sinks. This work experimentally studies the thermal performance of plate-fin vapor chamber heat sinks using infrared thermography. The effects of the width, height and number of fins and of the Reynolds number on the thermal performance are considered. Experimental data are compared with corresponding data for conventional aluminum heat sinks. The results show that generated heat is transferred more uniformly to the base plate by a vapor chamber heat sink than by a similar aluminum heat sink. Therefore, the maximum temperature is effectively reduced. The overall thermal resistance of the vapor chamber heat sink declines as the Reynolds number increases, but the strength of the effect falls. The effect of the fin dimensions on the thermal performance is stronger at a lower Reynolds number. At a low Reynolds number, a suitable number of fins must be chosen to ensure favorable thermal performance of the vapor chamber heat sink. However, at a high Reynolds number, the thermal performance improves as the fin number increases.     

Thermal-fluid characteristics of plate-fin heat sinks cooled by impingement jet

This work experimentally and numerically studies the thermal-fluid characteristics of plate-fin heat sinks under impingement cooling by adjusting the impinging Reynolds number, the impingement distance, and the fin dimensions. The parameters and the ranges under consideration are the impinging Reynolds number (Re = 5000–25,000), the impingement distance (Y/D = 4–28), the fin width (W/L = 0.08125–0.15625) and the fin height (H/L = 0.375–0.625). The results show that the heat transferred by the heat sink increases with the impinging Reynolds number. The thermal performance can be improved significantly even at low impinging Reynolds number. However, the improvement becomes indistinct as the impinging Reynolds number increases. The thermal resistance declines as the impingement distance increases, and is minimal at Y/D = 20 for various impinging Reynolds numbers. Additionally, the thermal resistance increases as the impingement distance increases further. Increasing the fin width can effectively reduce the thermal resistance. However, as the fin width increases beyond a particular value, the thermal resistance increases dramatically. Reducing the thermal resistance by increasing the fin height depends on a suitable impinging Reynolds number and fin width. Therefore, the effect of the fin height is weaker than that of the impinging Reynolds number or the fin width.     

Prediction algorithm of thermal resistance for impingement cooling of heat sinks for LSI packages with pin-fin arrays

This paper is a semi-empirical report on an algorithm for the prediction of thermal resistance for impingement cooling of pin-fin heat sinks for LSI packages when the inlet orifice is relatively large and is located over the center of the sink. We present a physical model suitable for these types of heat sinks, based on flow visualization results. The model divides the flow region into five parts: I) the top surfaces of the fins where they are directly under the inlet orifice, II) the portions of the vertical surfaces of the pin-fin cylinders, where those surfaces are directly below the inlet port, III) the surface of the base to which the fins are attached, excluding the areas occupied by the feet of the fins themselves, IV) the portions of the vertical surfaces of the fin-cylinders excluding those portions of the surfaces that are directly below the inlet port (complementary to region II), V) the portions of the top surfaces of the pins, excluding those portions directly below the inlet port (complementary to region I). We predicted thermal resistance values for heat sinks with pin-fin arrays, for a variety of orifice diameters, gaps, pin-fin diameters, and heights, and number of fins. These values agreed with experimental data within ±30%. © 1997 Scripta Technica, Inc. Heat Trans Jpn Res, 25(7): 434–448, 1996     

A semi-empirical model for estimating permeability and inertial coefficient of pin-fin heat sinks

This work presents a novel semi-empirical model for estimating the permeability and inertial coefficient of pin-fin heat sinks that are set as porous media. The forms of correlations for the permeability and inertial coefficient of pin-fin heat sinks are firstly derived theoretically, then a series of pressure drop tests are performed for modifying those correlations. The variable parameters of pin-fins studied herein are the relative longitudinal pitch, the relative transverse pitch, the relative fin height and the relative fin length. The present correlations are reasonable by comparing with the data of other tests. Additionally, within the range of Reynolds number (Re_d = 676-11,252), at a given Re_d, the effect of the relative fin height on the pressure drop is negligible. The pressure drop declines as the relative fin length increases, especially as the relative transverse pitch and the relative longitudinal pitch increase. It increases as the relative transverse pitch declines or the relative longitudinal pitch increases.     

Predicting the thermal performance characteristics of staggered vertical pin fin array heat sinks under combined mode radiation and mixed convection with impinging flow

A theoretical and experimental study was carried out investigating the influence of thermal radiation on the thermal performance of a pin fin array heat sink with the purpose of developing accurate predictive capability for such situations, and to determine the particular design parameters and environmental conditions under which thermal radiation might be advantageous to the thermal performance. Several different types of experimental tests were run with the corresponding physical parameter variations including the emissivity of the heat sink, elevated ambient air temperature, the temperature of a visible hot surface, and its radiation configuration factor. A theoretical model, validated by experimental data, which includes the capability of predicting the influence of thermal radiation on the thermal performance of a pin fin array heat sink, was developed by introducing an effective radiation heat transfer coefficient that was added to the convective heat transfer coefficient.     

Numerical simulation on flow and heat transfer performances of serrated and wavy fins in plate-fin heat exchanger for hydrogen liquefaction

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A numerically-based parametric study of heat transfer off an inclined surface subject to impinging airflow

Impinging jets may be used to achieve enhanced local heat transfer for convective heating, cooling, or drying. The issuing jet may contact the surface normally or obliquely. Factors such as jet attachment, surface angle, jet angle and size, separation distance between jet orifice and surface of impingement, and trajectory influence heat transfer dramatically. This study addresses the thermal problem of jet impingement on an inclined surface and is motivated by the practical application of air jets issuing out of a defroster’s nozzles and impinging on the inclined windshield surface of a vehicle. The effects of incoming fluid velocity, openings’ geometry (circular vs. rectangular), number of openings, angle that the inclined surface makes with the horizontal plane and angle of impinging jet on heat transfer are examined. Fluid mechanics and heat transfer characteristics are exhibited in details for a configuration with three rectangular openings. A comparative study for other configurations is also featured. The results are correlated in terms of governing dimensionless parameters through numerically-based correlations that are useful for predicting heat transfer on an inclined surface subject to impinging airflow.     

Effects of thermal property variations on the liquid flow and heat transfer in microchannel heat sinks

Three-dimensional conjugate numerical simulations using the inlet, average and variable thermal properties respectively were performed for the laminar water flow and heat transfer in rectangular microchannels with D_h of 0.333 mm at Re of 101–1775. Both average and variable properties are adopted in data reduction. The calculated local and average characteristics of flow and heat transfer are compared among different methods, and with the experiments, correlations and simplified theoretical solution data from published literatures. Compared with the inlet property method, both average and variable property methods have significantly lower f_app, but higher convective heat transfer coefficient h_z and Nu_z. Compared with the average property method, the variable property method has higher f_appRe_ave and lower h_z at the beginning, but lower f_appRe_ave and higher h_z at the later section of the channel. The calculated Nu_ave agree well with the Sieder-Tate correlation and the recently reported experiment, validating the traditional macroscale theory in predicting the flow and heat transfer characteristics in the dimension and Re range of the present work.     

Development of a theoretical model for predicting the thermal performance characteristics of a vertical pin-fin array heat sink under combined forced and natural convection with impinging flow

A comprehensive theoretical and experimental study was carried out on the thermal performance of a pin-fin heat sink. A theoretical model was formulated that has the capability of predicting the influence of various geometrical, thermal, and flow parameters on the effective thermal resistance of the heat sink. An experimental technique was developed for measuring the thermal performance of the heat sink, and the overall convective heat transfer coefficient for the fin bundle. Experiments were carried out, and correlations obtained, for a wide range of parameters for pure natural convection and for combined forced and natural convection. The predictive capability of the theoretical model was verified by comparison with experimental data including the influence of various fin parameters and the existence of an optimum fin spacing.     

Flow visualizations and heat transfer measurements for a rotating pin-fin heat sink with a circular impinging jet

This work experimentally investigated the fluid flow and heat transfer behaviors of jet impingement onto the rotating heat sink. Air was used as impinging coolant, while the square heat sinks with uniformly in-line arranged 5 × 5 and 9 × 9 pin-fins were employed. The side length (L) of the heat sink equaled 60 mm and was fixed. Variable parameters were the relative length of the heat sink (L/d = 2.222 and 4.615), the relative distance of nozzle-to-fin tip (C/d = 0–11), the jet Reynolds number (Re = 5019–25,096) and the rotational Reynolds number (Re_r = 0–8114). Both flow characteristics of stationary and rotating systems were illustrated by the smoke visualization. Besides, the results of heat transfer indicate that, for a stationary system with a given air flow rate, there was a larger average Nusselt number (Nu₀) for the 9 × 9 pin-fin heat sink with L/d = 4.615 and C/d = 11. For a rotating system, a bigger Re_r meant a more obvious heat transfer enhancement (Nu_Ω/Nu₀) in the case of smaller Re, but Nu_Ω/Nu₀ decreased with increasing Re. In this work, Nu_Ω/Nu₀ in L/d = 2.222 is higher than in L/d = 4.615; among the systems in L/d = 2.222, bigger Nu_Ω/Nu₀ exists in the case of C/d = 9–11, but among the systems in L/d = 4.615, bigger Nu_Ω/Nu₀ exists in the case of C/d = 1–3. Finally, according to the base of Nu_Ω/Nu₀ ? 1.1, the criterion of the substantial rotation was suggested to be Re_r/Re ? 1.154.     

渐变孔隙率对泡沫铝矩形通道热沉流动和换热性能的影响

风冷是最普遍的电子器件散热方式。对填充渐变孔隙率泡沫铝的热沉的流动与换热性能进行CFD模拟,考察了孔隙率分别沿流动方向和高度方向发生梯度变化对热沉性能的影响。结果表明:与均匀孔隙率热沉相比,孔隙率沿高度方向渐变的热沉压力损失减小,最佳的孔隙率渐变方式为沿高度方向由0.963 0递减至0.700 0,与当量孔隙率0.831 5的均匀孔隙率热沉相比,明显提高了泡沫铝热沉的综合性能。当进口速度高于3.0 m/s后,渐变孔隙率热沉的综合性能甚至优于高孔隙率(0.963 0)的均匀孔隙率热沉。     

Parametric study on the combined thermal and hydraulic performance of single phase micro pin-fin heat sinks part I: Square and circle geometries

This paper is the first part of a three paper series studying the overall performance of a micro pin-fin heat sink with single phase liquid flow and different pin-fin geometries operating under and similar conditions. Two different heat sinks, one with square shaped pin-fins and the other with circular pin-fins are selected for study in this paper. The paper focuses on studying the effect of thermal resistance and pressure drop of micro heat sinks when subjected to various factors such as pitch distance in axial and transverse directions, aspect ratio of the pin-fin, hydraulic diameters of the pin-fin, and the liquid flow rate through the device. A figure of merit (FOM) involving both the thermal resistance and pressure drop across the heat sink is introduced in the paper and the performance is evaluated on the basis of this FOM. The heat sinks are subjected to uniform heat flux at the bottom of the heat sink and the characteristic study is based on constant Reynolds number of liquid flow at the entrance of the channel. Water is used as the fluid in this study. The study is conducted over the Reynolds number range of 50–500. The characteristic study is carried out with the help of simulations developed using commercially available computational fluid dynamics software CoventorWare?. The characteristic study carried out in this paper is divided into four cases. In the first case the axial pitch distance is varied between 350 μm and 650 μm by keeping the aspect ratio of the pin-fin structure constant at 0.5. For the second case the transverse pitch distance is varied between 150 μm and 300 μm and the aspect ratio is kept the same as in the first case. Third case studies the effect of varying the aspect ratio (between 0.33 and 1) of the pin-fin structures by keeping both pitches constant. Case four studies the variation in the performance of the heat sink with the change in the hydraulic diameter of the pin-fins. The study conducted in this paper reveals the importance of considering the pressure drop along with the thermal resistance in evaluating the overall performance of the micro pin-fin heat sink. At low Reynolds number (below 300) the heat sinks with circular pin-fins shows better performance compared with heat sinks with square pin-fins and vice versa at high Reynolds number (above 300). FOM varies considerably with the change in the parameters like axial pitch distance, transverse pitch distance, aspect ratio and hydraulic diameter of the pin-fins.     

Alterations to coherent flow structures and heat transfer due to pulsations in an impinging air-jet

An investigation was carried out to study the effect of flow pulsation on the characteristics of a planar air jet impinging normally on a heated surface. Such information was further utilized to determine the influence of flow characteristics in the plane of impingement on Nusselt number distribution. Time-resolved system properties were investigated with modern instrumentation that allowed instantaneous heat transfer and flow velocity measurements to be performed simultaneously. Based on good coherence function estimates between the signals, heat transfer measurements were used in return to infer flow dynamics near the impingement surface. Experiments were performed for steady and pulsating jets at jet Reynolds numbers of 1 000, 5 500, and 11 000, pulse frequencies up to 82 Hz (corresponding to Strouhal numbers below 0.13), and pulse amplitude at the nozzle exit up to 50 % of the mean flow velocity. Special techniques commonly used for periodically disturbed flow fields elucidated the dynamics of the pulse and associated coherent flow structures. Results indicated the parametric conditions for which alterations are expected in time-averaged heat transfer from the surface. Engineering applications include cooling of electronic packages and heat transfer to gas turbine blades.     

Fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics of cross-cut heat sinks

In this study, effects of cross-cuts on the thermal performance of heat sinks under the parallel flow condition are experimentally studied. To find effects of the length, position, and number of cross-cuts, heat sinks with one or several cross-cuts ranging from 0.5 mm to 10 mm were fabricated. The pressure drop and the thermal resistance of the heat sinks are obtained in the range of 0.01 W<P_p < 1 W. Experimental results show that among the many cross-cut design parameters, the cross-cut length has the most significant influence on the thermal performance of heat sinks. The results also show that heat sinks with a cross-cut are superior to heat sinks containing several cross-cuts in the thermal performance. Based on experimental results, the friction factor and Nusselt number correlations for heat sinks with a cross-cut are suggested. Using the proposed correlations, thermal performances of cross-cut heat sinks are compared to those of optimized plate-fin and square pin-fin heat sinks under the constant pumping power condition. This comparison yields a contour map that suggests an optimum type of heat sink under the constraint of the fixed pumping power and fixed heat sink volume. The contour map shows that an optimized cross-cut heat sink outperforms optimized plate-fin and square pin-fin heat sinks when 0.04 < log L1 < 1.