Numerical analysis of heat transfer and fluid flow in microchannel heat sinks for thermal management

Abstract

Electronic components used in a variety of applications, such as electronic devices, computers, automobiles, medical equipment, telecommunications, etc., can be effectively cooled using microchannel heat sinks (MHS). In this paper, a novel design of an MHS is presented, which can manage the heat load (dissipate the excess heat) and maintain the temperature of the MHS in the safe range. The passage of the MHS was modified with circular extruding ribs on the side wall of the passage. This technique in MHS was inspired by the study of heat transfer enhancement in heat exchangers. The effects of the sector angle of the circular protruding ribs ranging from 45° to 80° were studied in laminar flow (Re = 100–900). It was found that the maximum Nusselt number in the range of 7.26–64.11 was observed at sector angles of circular protrusion ribs of 80°. Also, the values of thermohydraulic performance parameter (THPP) are greater than one, which shows that the application of the proposed design for thermal management of MHS is reasonable and effective.

Keywords

• Microchannel heat sink
• Water
• Circular protrusion ribs
• Nusselt number
• Thermohydraulic performance parameter