Numerical Investigation on the Optimum Thermal Design of the Shape and Geometric Parameters of Microchannel Heat Exchangers with Cavities

Abstract

Due to the large surface-area-to-volume ratio, microchannel heat exchangers have a higher heat transfer rate compared with traditional scale heat exchangers. In this study, the optimum microchannel cavity with high heat transfer and low flow resistance is designed to further improve microchannel exchangers’ thermal performance. A three-dimensional laminar flow model, consisting of Navier–Stokes equations and an energy conservation equation is solved and the conjugate heat transfer between the silicon basement and deionized water is taken into consideration. The impact of the shape, aspect ratio, size and spacing of the cavity on the thermal performance of microchannel exchangers are numerically investigated, respectively. The results indicated that the cavity on the sidewall can enhance heat transfer and reduce flow resistance simultaneously, and cavities with a relatively small expansion angle and streamlined edge could enhance thermal performance the most. Based on the conclusions, a new cavity shape is proposed, and the simulation results verify its excellent thermal performance as expected. Furthermore, investigation is performed to figure out the optimum design of the new cavity and the optimal geometric parameters of the cavity under different flow conditions have been obtained in principle for microchannel exchangers’ design.

Investigation of heat dissipation structure embedded in substrate of power chip based on grid-type thermal through silicon vias

“…The results demonstrate that the chip designed with the GT-TTSV heat dissipation structure exhibits better heat dissipation effectiveness, higher current carrying capacity, and better reliability compared to chips utilizing back thinning technology in similar conditions. Compared to other heat dissipation structures [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20], the structure proposed in this paper that embeds heat dissipation through silicon vias on the back of the chip, effectively reduces the size and weight of the system.…”

“…Therefore, a heat dissipation structure is needed to improve the reliability, power density, and integration of power chips. Many researches are carried out on the thermal management of electronic devices under high heat flux, using microchannel heat sink [7][8][9][10][11][12][13], metal foam heat sink [14,15], and optimizing chip layout [16] to improve the chip cooling capacity. Both microchannel heat sink and metal foam heat sink achieve chip cooling by adding additional heat dissipation structures, resulting in additional manufacturing costs and even incompatibility with semiconductor processes [17][18][19].…”

The Impact of Cavities in Different Thermal Applications of Nanofluids: A Review

“…Tuckerman and Pease [ 103 ] were the pioneering researchers who proposed microchannel heat exchangers. Researchers [ 104 , 105 , 106 , 107 , 108 , 109 , 110 , 111 , 112 , 113 , 114 ] examined the various cavity forms in microchannel heat exchangers. The cavity increases the heat transfer area, enhances mainstream disturbance, and causes chaotic advection, substantially affecting heat-transfer enhancements.…”

Research on Intelligent Distribution of Liquid Flow Rate in Embedded Channels for Cooling 3D Multi-Core Chips

“…Due to the broad application prospects of micro-channels, scholars have carried out extensive studies on the structure of micro-channels [10][11][12][13][14][15][16], heat transfer medium of micro-channels [17,18], heat transfer and flow properties of micro-channels [19][20][21], etc. In recent years, with the vigorous development of the new generation of artificial intelligence technology, machine learning and optimization algorithms have injected new vitality with intelligent characteristics into micro-channel research.…”