CFD analysis of cooling of electronic equipment as an undergraduate design project

Abstract

ABSTRACT:The methods and outcome of an undergraduate senior design project related to the analysis of fluid flow and heat transfer in an electronic system with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and design of vortex promoters for cooling the system are summarized in this article. The study emphasizes the necessity to teach CFD to Mechanical Engineering students at undergraduate level. ß

Integration of numerical and physical experiments to enhance student learning experience

“…The wake structure behind a circular cylinder was studied by CFD simulation and the results were validated by wind tunnel experiments. The same authors opine that CFD should be core part of the curriculum at the undergraduate level because of its increasing use as a design and optimization tool in the industries. They also feel that teaching CFD is a challenging task as undergraduate students usually like hands on projects.…”

Experimental Investigation of Cooling of Electronic Equipment

“…Air is forced to move with the help of a fan. To decrease system temperature, fan speed, which is one of the important parameters in efficient cooling, should satisfy turbulent flow conditions [1], [7].…”

“…Aradag et al [7] used vortex promoters for effective cooling. They performed their computational analyses in two parts.…”

STAR CCM+ CFD Simulations of Enhanced Heat Transfer in High-Power Density Electronics Using Forced Air Heat Exchanger and Pumped Fluid Loop Cold Plate Fabricated from High Thermal Conductivity Materials

“…More generic analyses of using CFD to electronic systems are given in the work of [12][13][14], wherein system's level analysis is performed using CFD to gain insight on heat transfer and thermal performance of various electronic devices, ranging from hand-held devices to desktop computers. The tutorial offered by [15] allows the novice to gain insight on how to use electronics packaging design lay-out strategies to realize more effective heat transfer flow field patterns. In the arena of rack mounted servers, several pertinent CFD based investigations have been carried out over the last decade or so.…”