Numerical Investigation of Effects of Ramification Length and Angle on Pressure Drop and Heat Transfer in a Ramified Microchannel

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of ramification length and angle on pressure drop and heat transfer in a ramified microchannel. The governing equations for the fluid flow were solved by using Fluent CFD code. Computational results were compared with mathematical model values given in the literature for validation. On the basis of a water-cooled (only water and water+ethanol) smooth microchannel, ramified plates were designed into the heat sink, and then the corresponding laminar flow and heat transfer were investigated numerically. Four different configurations of ramified plates were considered by adjusting the angle and length of the T profile. Results obtained from the numerical tests show good agreement with the mathematical model and these results also demonstrate that the pressure drop increases with increasing both the ramification length and angle. Moreover, the maximum temperature inside the ramified microchannel increases with increasing the ramification length as well as increasing the ratio volume fraction of ethanol.

Keywords

• Microchannel; CFD; Pressure drop; Heat transfer; Ramification length and angle.