THERMAL ANALYSIS OF FLUID FLOW THROUGH MICROCHANNELS WITH VERTICAL BIFURCATIONS FOR NON-UNIFORM HEAT FLUXES

Abstract

A power-efficient composite heat sink is an element for optimization of temperature, pressure drop, and power requirements in electronic devices cooling. A micro-channel with sub-channels which has the potential to develop hybrid heat sinks is analyzed numerically and compared with a simple micro-channel along with sub-channel for various heat fluxes and mass flow rates of water. The base temperature, pressure drop, and pumping power are calculated at various base and hot spot heat fluxes for different Reynolds numbers. Laminar flow region is considered for this analysis. It has been found that by the introduction of sub-channel above hotspot regions, the base temperature can be maintained within the safe limits and saves the power requirements of heat sinks, with a saving of 49.65% in pumping power. The sub-channels in comparison with uniform width micro-channels maintain the base temperature of the sink within the safe limits.