Parametric Influence on the Thermofluidic Characteristics of the Branched Wavy Heat Sink

Abstract

The branched wavy heat sink (BWHS) is found as a novel design for heat sink application. The aim of this paper is first to investigate the optimum branch angle by varying the branch angle while keeping the constant parametric value such as pitch, wavelength, and secondary width; the idea was established, and we found that a 45-deg branch angle is the best among other branch angles. After that, we varied the next important parametric value, i.e., secondary width, to know the optimum secondary width. Four secondary pass angle (branch angle) configurations (25 deg, 35 deg, 45 deg, and 55 deg) were proposed and numerically investigated by keeping the constant parametric value. The RNG k–ɛ model has been employed with the full domain model approach in the computational analysis. Further, the optimum branch angle has also been investigated with the varying secondary width. The secondary flowrates were strongly affected in all the cases. The pressure loss increases as the secondary pass angle increases. However, a secondary pass maintains pressure uniformity in the spanwise direction through flow migration. It is clear that raising the secondary pass angle reduces the hot spot region. Finally, the optimum branch angle has also been investigated with varying secondary widths of 0.5 mm, 0.25 mm, and 0.20 mm. According to the thermofluidic study, the BWHS design with 45-deg angle and 0.25-mm secondary width has better heat convection performance among all. With a 2% volumetric concentration of nanofluid, the heat transfer rate improves by about 10% compared to water. As a result, the 45-deg BWHS presents a viable avenue for further study. The heat transfer rate of the microchannel heat sink (MCHS) is greatly aided by secondary flow mixing. The branched wavy heat sinks (BWHSs) under forced convection with water/Al2O3 under the Re = 100–500 have been investigated.