Effect of splitter angles and orientations attached to pin fin on heat transfer and hydraulic characteristics in a jet impingement rectangular channel

Abstract

Heat transfer improvement of heat sinks is very interesting in many applications including electronic devices cooling. In this study, the influence of rotational angle of splitters attached to pin fins for two cases of identical and opposite directions is investigated. Five angles including 0, 30, 45, 60 and 90 are considered in the analysis conducted for the rectangular channel. Air as the heat transfer fluid at 302 K and 35,000 Reynolds number enters the channel. The temperature of the bottom of the channel is assumed to be constant. 18 rows of circular pin fins on which splitters are attached for enhancement of heat transfer are examined. In the numerical analysis, Nusselt number, turbulent kinetic energy, friction factor and pressure drop are analyzed parameters. The simulation of the models presented in the current study is endeavored using ANSYS Fluent software, which employs finite volume method. Results revealed that, for the identical-direction case, as the angle rises, the average Nusselt number, turbulent kinetic energy, friction factor and pressure drop increase, in a way that for the case of 90 degree, Nusselt number is 9 % and turbulent kinetic energy is 96 % higher than the base case of zero angle. Moreover, friction factor and pressure drop of the vertical-splitter case are 4.8 and 4.6 times more than those of the base case. It is also concluded that increasing angle from 0 to 45° for the opposite-direction case, Nusselt number diminishes. However, extra increase in the angle from 45 to 90 degree results in Nusselt number enhancement. Similar trend of variation is also reported for turbulent kinetic energy. Results also indicated that for the opposite-direction case, friction factor and pressure drop rise; for the case of 90 degree, friction factor and pressure drop increase 4.4 and 4.32 times, respectively.

Keywords

• Channel heat sink
• Jet impingement cooling
• Pin fin
• Splitter plate
• Heat transfer enhancement
• Turbulent fluid flow