Optimal Thermal Design of Converged-Diverged Microchannel Heat Sinks for High Heat Flux Applications

D. Chakravarthii [1], S. Subramani [1], M. Devarajan [1],
[1] Univeristy of Science Malaysia (USM), Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia
Published in 2016

With the advancements in aerospace technology, micro-electromechanical systems, hybrid data centres and microfluidics, the miniature size electronic chips in such applications are need of the century. The major challenge in microelectronic chips is to eliminate the generated heat for stable and reliable operation of devices. Microchannel heat sinks are efficient method to dissipate heat when the generated heat flux is more than 120 W/cm^2. The pressure drop and thermal resistance in the microchannel are the important parameters which determine the efficiency of microchannel heat sink. The configuration of the microchannel in terms of thermal resistance and pressure drop is prior attention to design the microchannel heat sink. In this study, a converged-diverged (CD) microchannel was designed and optimized for efficient pressure drop and thermal resistance.