Design and Performance Study of Double-Layer Cross-Flow Microchannel Liquid-Cooled Plate

Abstract

Abstract. Indirect liquid cooling is one of the important methods for high-performance electronic chip cooling. This article, focusing on the microchannel liquid-cooled plate technology, designed a two-layer cross-flow microchannel liquid-cooled plate. We conducted numerical simulations to evaluate the performance of liquid-cooled plates under various Reynolds numbers (Re). The results show that the variable inlet flow channel design can lead to uniform fluid flow distribution. Liquid-cooled plates with a smaller aspect ratio (K value) have a higher Nusselt number (Nu). When K = 4 and 5, the liquid-cooled plate has a lower friction factor (f value), indicating that it has better flow performance. Under low-pressure drop conditions, Re = 1000 (flow velocity is 0.5–0.6 m/s) and K = 4, the liquid-cooled plate has the best performance evaluation criteria. A prototype liquid-cooled plate with K = 4 was produced using 3D metal printing. The experimental results show that for operating conditions where Re < 1100, increasing Re enhances the heat transfer and flow performance of the liquid-cooled plate, and the comprehensive performance is optimal at Re = 1100 (flow velocity of approximately 0.6 m/s) under low-pressure drop. The Nu correlation equation established based on experimental and simulation data exhibits high predictive accuracy (R2 = 0.91), and its narrow 95% confidence interval validates the reliability of the model parameter estimates. The liquid-cooled plate designed in this article can effectively control the maximum surface temperature of a 350 W CPU to approximately 42 °C.