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Numerical Investigation on Thermal Performance of PCM-Based Hybrid Microchannel Heat Sinks for Electronics Cooling Application

  • Research Article-Mechanical Engineering
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Abstract

Heatsinks have a prime role in the thermal management of energy systems and electronic devices. Miniaturization and the high power requirement of modern electronic equipment make them more compact and more heat-generating. For the efficient operation of modern electronic equipment, efficient thermal management system is required. Microchannel heatsinks (MCHS) are the best choice for efficient thermal management of electronic devices because of their high compactness and large heat-dissipating capacity. The attention of most of the researchers is on the improvement of the performance of the MCHS. In the present work, the augmentation of the performance of MCHS by incorporating the phase change material (PCM) was analysed. Six novel designs of PCM-based hybrid MCHS are modelled using ANSYS FLUENT. The computational model implemented for the present work was validated with both experimental and numerical works in the literature, and a good agreement was observed. The performance of six models of PCM-based MCHSs is analysed and compared with the heatsink without PCM. The heatsink model with the best thermal performance is presented. The variation of thermal resistance, liquid fraction, and temperature uniformity coefficient (TUC) with Reynolds number are analysed. A maximum of 15.26% lower TUC and 7.3% lower thermal resistance was found in hybrid MCHS with PCM compared to the MCHS without PCM. The influence of the liquid fraction and position of the PCM on the performance of MCHS were also studied.

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Abbreviations

MC:

Microchannel

MCHS:

Microchannel heat sink

MEPCM:

Microencapsulated PCM

Nu:

Nusselt number

PCM:

Phase change material

Re:

Reynolds number

A b :

Area of the base of the MCHS (m2)

H :

Height of the heatsink (m)

H C :

Height of the channel (m)

H P :

Height of the PCM layer (m)

L :

Length of the heatsink (m)

p :

Pressure (Pa)

q :

Heat flux applied on base (W/m2)

R T :

Total thermal resistance (K/W)

t 1 :

Heatsink top rib thickness (m)

t 2 :

Heatsink bottom rib thickness (m)

\({\overline{T} }_{\mathrm{b}}\) :

Average temperature of the base (K)

T f :

Temperature of the fluid (K)

T in :

Inlet temperature of the fluid (K)

v in :

Inlet velocity (m/s2)

W :

Width of the heatsink (m)

W c :

Width of the channel (m)

W p :

Width of the PCM layer (m)

W t :

Gap between the microchannels (m)

x, y, z :

Cartesian coordinates (m)

α :

Thermal diffusivity (m2/s)

μ :

Dynamic viscosity (Pa s)

ρ :

Density (kg/m3)

b:

Base of the channel

C:

Channel

f:

Fluid

in:

Inlet

T:

Total

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, NIT Andhra Pradesh, Tadepalligudem, India

    K. Naga Ramesh & T. Karthikeya Sharma

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, NIT Warangal, Kazipet, India

    G. Amba Prasad Rao & K. Madhu Murthy

Authors
  1. K. Naga Ramesh
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  2. T. Karthikeya Sharma
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  3. G. Amba Prasad Rao
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  4. K. Madhu Murthy
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Correspondence to T. Karthikeya Sharma.

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Ramesh, K.N., Sharma, T.K., Rao, G.A.P. et al. Numerical Investigation on Thermal Performance of PCM-Based Hybrid Microchannel Heat Sinks for Electronics Cooling Application. Arab J Sci Eng 48, 2779–2793 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-022-07007-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-022-07007-w

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