Thermo-Hydraulic Performance Investigation of Novel Wavy Fractal Microchannel Heat Sink Device

Abstract

By effectively controlling heat under harsh circumstances, microchannel heat sinks (MCHSs) increase the robustness of electronics. Device lifespans are increased by this dependability, which makes them perfect for demanding applications like automotive and aerospace. In this study, thermal and hydraulic performance of additively manufactured novel wavy fractal heat sink (WFHS) device are investigated and compared with straight fractal heat sink (FHS). It includes numerical simulations with experimental validations for both devices. With water as the cooling fluid, only single-phase flow is taken into account. The thermal performance of WFHS is found better than FHS device but with high pressure drop (ΔP) penalty. Based on results and conclusions, parametric optimization is carried out to find the optimized geometry of WFHS for best overall performance. It reveals that WFHS case-4 having amplitude (A) of 0.1 mm at v˙ = 300 ml/min is the best case for maximum overall performance. Decreasing A of WFHS, ΔP penalty, and maximum thermal resistance (Rth,max) decreases. For lower pumping power (PP < 3 mW), FHS, and WFHS case-4 show almost equal Rth,max. For higher PP (3 mW < PP < 5 mW), WFHS case-4 shows lower Rth,max compared to FHS.