Flow Visualization and Heat Transfer Characteristics of Oscillating Fluid through Pin-Fin Array in a Rectangular Channel

Abstract

This work experimentally investigated the fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics of the pin-fin heat sink with the oscillating air flow. The oscillating air flow would be unstable in the passages among the fins due to the periodical change of flow rate. It might enhance the overall heat-transfer performance. At the present study, the pin-fin heat sinks with various fin heights were installed in the rectangular channel, resulting in different bypass clearances between the pin fins and the shroud of the test channel. The smoke flow visualizations for the oscillating-flow system were completed. The heat-transfer tests under the asymmetrically heated condition were performed to obtain the average Nusselt numbers. The smoke lines with obvious waves in the transverse direction were found in the results of the flow visualizations. By comparing to the steady flow system, there was about 20∼34% increment in the overall heat-transfer performance at the operating state without bypass clearance. However, if the bypass clearance was too big, the heat-exchange capacity of the oscillating flow was less than that of the steady flow. It demonstrates that the oscillating flow promotes the cooling performance of pin-fin heat sink at the non-bypass and specified bypass conditions.