Analysis of Fluid Flow and Heat Transfer in Corrugated Perforated Plate Fin Heat Sinks

Abstract

This paper reports a mathematical model for predicting the fluid and heat flow characteristics of a Z-shaped corrugated perforated plate heat sink. Experiments were carried out to validate overall pressure drop as well as heat transfer predictions. A two-pronged approach was undertaken to design a corrugated perforated fin geometry: (a) macroscopic packaging, where the flow is distributed into conduits before being fed into perforated plates, and (b) microscopic design, where the pores are sized to maximize heat dissipation. A methodology typically used for predicting flow maldistribution is extended for packaging porous perforated plates in the macroscopic approach. An illustrative study is carried that estimates the optimum number of porous perforated plate fins that can be packaged within a given volume under fixed pressure drop constraint. In the microscopic approach, an order of magnitude analysis was carried out to decide the optimum diameter to maximize the heat transfer rate and expression for optimum diameter, and maximum achievable heat flux is proposed. Numerical simulations were carried out by considering full perforated plate porous fin geometry and single-channel geometry, and good agreement in their results was found. Finally, this study elaborates on the importance of achieving uniform flow distribution across the porous perforated plate fins.