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Fluid Flow and Thermal Characteristics of a Minichannel Heat Sink with Impinging Air Flow

  • Research Article - Mechanical Engineering
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Abstract

In this study, impingement air cooling mode of forced convection is adopted for heat dissipation from high power electronic devices in association with a parallel fin heat sink. Components of airflow velocity in channel of the extended surfaces are presented and discussed. Pressure drop and other thermal performances are analyzed numerically by a C++ developed code based on finite differences schemes. Thermal and hydraulic characterization of heat sink under air-forced convection cooling condition are studied. The hydraulic parameters including velocity profiles, distribution of static pressure, and pressure drop through the heat sink are analyzed and presented schematically. Furthermore, the thermal characteristic of the aluminum approach of cooling is studied by utilizing the contours of the three-dimensional temperature distributions through the fins, base heat sink and the heat sink body. The performance of the proposed model computed by the numerical calculation is high compared to current heat sinks as expected of the previous studies.

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Abbreviations

A :

Section of the channel (m2)

A h :

Heat transfer area (m2)

C P :

Specific heat coefficient (J/kg K)

D h :

Hydraulic diameter (m)

h :

Convective heat transfer coefficient (w/m2 K)

h b :

Height of the base (m)

H :

Height of a the heat sink (m)

h a :

Height of a minichannel fin (m)

λ:

Thermal conductivity of a aluminium (W/m K)

K a :

Thermal conductivity of air (W/m K)

L :

Length of the base of a minichannel heat sink (m)

l c :

Channel width (m)

L*:

Dimensionless thermal developing flow length

  :

Mass flow rate (kg/s)

N f :

Number of fins

n :

Number of channels

Nu :

Nusselt number

p :

Pressure (Pa)

Q :

Power of heat source (W)

q′′:

Heat flux (W/m2)

Re :

Reynolds number

R th :

Thermal resistance (°C/W)

t f :

Fin thickness (m)

T :

Temperature (°C)

u :

Velocity in the x direction (m/s)

V :

Velocity in the y direction (m/s)

V 0 :

Inlet velocity (m/s)

:

Air flow rate (m3/s)

W :

Width of the base (m)

w C :

Channel width (m)

ρ :

Air density (kg/m3)

μ :

Dynamic viscosity (Ns/m2)

x, y, z :

Space variables

Δx, Δy :

Cell widths

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Beriache, M., Bettahar, A., Naji, H. et al. Fluid Flow and Thermal Characteristics of a Minichannel Heat Sink with Impinging Air Flow. Arab J Sci Eng 37, 2243–2254 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-012-0321-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-012-0321-3

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