Search results

This study aims to minimize the pressure drop across wavy microchannels using secondary branches without compromising its capacity to transfer the heat. The impact of secondary flows on the pressure drop and heat transfer capabilities at different Reynolds numbers are investigated numerically for different wavy microchannels. Finally, different channels are evaluated using performance evaluation criteria to determine their effectiveness.

To investigate the flow and heat transfer capabilities in wavy microchannels having secondary branches, a 3D conjugate heat transfer model based on finite volume method is used. In conventional wavy microchannel, secondary branches are introduced at crest and trough locations. For the numerical simulation, a single symmetrical channel is used to minimize computational time and resources and the flow within the channels remains single-phase and laminar.

The findings indicate that the suggested secondary channels notably improve heat transfer and decrease pressure drop within the channels. At lower flow rates, the secondary channels demonstrate superior performance in terms of heat transfer. However, the performance declines as the flow rate increased. With the same amplitude and wavelength, the introduction of secondary channels reduces the pressure drop compared with conventional wavy channels. Due to the presence of secondary channels, the flow splits from the main channel, and part of the core flow gets diverted into the secondary channel as the flow takes the path of minimum resistance. Due to this flow split, the core velocity is reduced. An increase in flow area helps in reducing pressure drop.

Many complex and intricate microchannels are proposed by the researchers to augment heat dissipation. There are challenges in the fabrication of microchannels, such as surface finish and achieving the required dimensions. However, due to the recent developments in metal additive manufacturing and microfabrication techniques, the complex shapes proposed in this paper are feasible to fabricate.

Wavy channels are widely used in heat transfer and micro-fluidics applications. The proposed wavy microchannels with secondary channels are different when compared to conventional wavy channels and can be used practically to solve thermal challenges. They help achieve a lower pressure drop in wavy microchannels without compromising heat transfer performance.

The purpose of this study is to investigate heat transfer and electrokinetic non-Newtonian flow in a rectangular microchannel in the developed and transient states.

The Carreau–Yasuda model was considered to capture the non-Newtonian behavior of the fluid. The dimensionless forms of governing equations, including the continuity equation for the Carreau–Yasuda fluid, are numerically solved by considering the volumetric force term of electric current (DC).

The impact of pertinent parameters such as electrokinetic diameter (R), Brinkman number and Peclet number is examined graphically. It is observed that for increasing R, the bulk velocity decreases. The velocity of the bulk fluid reaches from the minimum to the maximum state across the microchannel over time. At the electrokinetic diameter of 400, the maximum velocity was obtained. Temperature graphs are plotted with changes in the various Brinkman number (0.1 < Br < 0.7) at different times, and local Nusselt are compared against changes in the Peclet number (0.1 < ℘e < 0.5). The results of this study show that by increasing the Brinkman number from 0.25 to 0.7, the temperature along the microchannel doubles. It was observed that increasing the Peclet number from 0.3 to 0.5 leads to 200% increment of the Nusselt number along the microchannel in some areas along the microchannel. The maximum temperature occurs at Brinkman number of 0.7 and the maximum value of the local Nusselt number is related to Peclet number 0.5. Over time in the transient mode, the Nusselt number also decreases along the microchannel. By the increasing of time, the temperature increases at given value of Brinkman, which is insignificant at Brinkman number of 0.1. The simulation results have been verified by Newtonian and non-Newtonian flows with adequate accuracy.

This study contributes to discovering the effects of transient flow of electroosmotic flow for non-Newtonian Carreau–Yasuda fluid and transient heat transfer through rectangular microchannel. To the authors’ knowledge, the said investigation is yet not available in existing literature.

This study aims to investigate a new circuitous minichannel cold plate (MCP) design involving flow fragmentation. The overall thermal performance and the temperature uniformity analysis are performed and compared with the traditional serpentine design. The substrate thickness and its thermal conductivity are varied to analyse the effect of axial-back conduction due to the conjugate nature of heat transfer.

The traditional serpentine minichannel is modified into five new fragmented designs with two inlets and two outlets. A three-dimensional numerical model involving the effect of conjugate heat transfer with a single-phase laminar fluid flow subjected to constant heat flux is solved using a finite volume-based computational fluid dynamics solver.

The minimum and maximum temperature differences are observed for the two branch fragmented flow designs. The two-branch and middle channel fragmented design shows better temperature uniformity over other designs while the three-branch fragmented designs exhibited better hydrodynamic performance.

MCPs could be used as an indirect liquid cooling method for battery thermal management of pouch and prismatic cells. Coupling the modified cold plates with a battery module and investigating the effect of different battery parameters and environmental effects in a transient state are the prospects for further research.

The study involves several aspects of evaluation for a conclusive decision on optimum channel design by analysing the performance plot between the temperature uniformity index, average base temperature and overall thermal performance. The new fragmented channels are designed in a way to facilitate the fluid towards the outlet in the minimum possible path thereby reducing the pressure drop, also maximizing the heat transfer and temperature uniformity from the substrate due to two inlets and a reversed-flow pattern. Simplified minichannel designs are proposed in this study for practical deployment and ease of manufacturability.

This study aims to investigate the rarefaction effects on flow and thermal performances of an equivalent sand-grain roughness model for aerodynamic thrust bearing.

In this study, a model of gas lubrication thrust bearing was established by modifying the wall roughness and considering rarefaction effect. The flow and lubrication characteristics of gas film were discussed based on the equivalent sand roughness model and rarefaction effect.

The boundary slip and the surface roughness effect lead to a decrease in gas film pressure and temperature, with a maximum decrease of 39.2% and 8.4%, respectively. The vortex effect present in the gas film is closely linked to the gas film’s pressure. Slip flow decreases the vortex effect, and an increase in roughness results in the development of slip flow. The increase of roughness leads to a decrease for the static and thermal characteristics.

This work uses the rarefaction effect and the equivalent sand roughness model to investigate the lubrication characteristics of gas thrust bearing. The results help to guide the selection of the surface roughness of rotor and bearing, so as to fully control the rarefaction effect and make use of it.

This study aims to examine the effect of a combination of hybrid pin-fin patterns on a heat sink's performance using numerical techniques. Also, flow characteristics have been studied, such as secondary flow formation and flow-wall interaction.

In this study, the effect of hybrid arrangements of elliptical and hexagonal pin-fins with different distribution percentages on flow characteristics and performance evaluation criteria in laminar flow was investigated. Ansys-Fluent software solves the governing equations using the finite volume method. Also, the accuracy of obtained results was compared with the experimental results of other similar papers.

The results of this study highlighted that hybrid arrangements show higher overall performance than single pin-fin patterns. Among the hybrid arrangements, case 3 has the highest values of performance evaluation criteria, that is, 1.84 in Re = 900. The results revealed that, with the instantaneous change in the pattern from elliptic to hexagonal, the secondary flow increases in the cross-sectional area of the channels, and the maximum velocity in the cross-section of the channel increases. The important advantages of case 3 are its highest overall performance and a lower chip surface temperature of up to about 2% than other hybrid patterns.

Prior research has shown that in the single pin-fin pattern, the cooling power at the end of the heat sink decreases with increasing fluid temperature. Also, a review of previous studies showed that existing papers had not investigated hybrid pin-fin patterns by considering the effect of changing distribution percentages on overall performance, which is the aim of this paper.

This numerical study aims to investigate the modification of the hexagonal pin fin geometry to enhance both the thermal and hydraulic performance of the copper micropin fin heat sink with single-phase water coolant in a laminar regime. The heat sink performance evaluation criteria have been investigated for the parametric effects of vertex angle θ (10–120) and relative length (RL) (0.25–9) of hexagonal pin fins.

To carry out research and reduce the computational cost, only one heat sink unit is simulated and analyzed using periodic boundary conditions on the side walls and includes a hexagonal pin fin and half channel on both sides to reflect the structural characteristics completely. The governing equations are also solved using finite volume method.

The results reveal that θ = 60 and RL = 1 yield the optimum thermal performance and heat sink performance is significantly influenced by the vertex angle and RL. The modified hexagon geometry improves fluid flow behavior by reducing the volume of the recirculation region behind the pin fin, preventing its effects on the downstream pin fins and restricting the thermal boundary layer development on its straight side. At Re = 1,000, the modified geometry enhances the average Nusselt number by 24.46% and the thermal performance factor by 23.89%, demonstrating the potential of modified hexagonal pin fins to enhance micropin fin heat sink performance.

Prior studies suggest using the pin fins with a regular hexagonal cross-section to obtain better thermal performance. However, this comes with a higher pressure drop penalty. The modification of the hexagonal pin fin geometry has been investigated in this numerical study to enhance both the thermal and hydraulic performance of the micropin fin heat sink. Because little attention has been paid to the modification of the regular hexagonal pin fins, as a geometry inspired by natural honeycomb structures, its design optimization is relatively scarce, and a gap was felt in this field.

A parabolic trough solar collector is an advanced concentrated solar power technology that significantly captures radiant energy. Solar power will help different sectors reach their energy needs in areas where traditional fuels are in use. This study aims to examine the sensitivity analysis for optimizing the heat transfer and entropy generation in the Jeffrey magnetohydrodynamic hybrid nanofluid flow under the influence of motile gyrotactic microorganisms with solar radiation in the parabolic trough solar collectors. The influences of viscous dissipation and Ohmic heating are also considered in this investigation.

Governing partial differential equations are derived via boundary layer assumptions and nondimensionalized with the help of suitable similarity transformations. The resulting higher-order coupled ordinary differential equations are numerically investigated using the Runga-Kutta fourth-order numerical approach with the shooting technique in the computational MATLAB tool.

The numerical outcomes of influential parameters are presented graphically for velocity, temperature, entropy generation, Bejan number, drag coefficient and Nusselt number. It is observed that escalating the values of melting heat parameter and the Prandl number enhances the Nusselt number, while reverse effect is observed with an enhancement in the magnetic field parameter and bioconvection Lewis number. Increasing the magnetic field and bioconvection diffusion parameter improves the entropy and Bejan number.

Nanotechnology has captured the interest of researchers due to its engrossing performance and wide range of applications in heat transfer and solar energy storage. There are numerous advantages of hybrid nanofluids over traditional heat transfer fluids. In addition, the upswing suspension of the motile gyrotactic microorganisms improves the hybrid nanofluid stability, enhancing the performance of the solar collector. The use of solar energy reduces the industry’s dependency on fossil fuels.

Efficient thermal management of central processing unit (CPU) cooling systems is vital in the context of advancing information technology and the demand for enhanced data processing speeds. This study aims to explore the thermal performance of a CPU cooling setup using a cylindrical porous metal foam heat sink.

Nanofluid flow through the metal foam is simulated using the Darcy–Brinkman–Forschheimer equation, accounting for magnetic field effects. The temperature distribution is modeled through the local thermal equilibrium equation, considering viscous dissipation. The problem’s governing partial differential equations are solved using the similarity method. The CPU’s hot surface serves as a solid wall, with nanofluid entering the heat sink as an impinging jet. Verification of the numerical results involves comparison with existing research, demonstrating strong agreement across numerical, analytical and experimental findings. Ansys Fluent® software is used to assess temperature, velocity and streamlines, yielding satisfactory results from an engineering standpoint.

Investigating critical parameters such as Darcy number (10⁻⁴ ≤ Da_D ≤ 10⁻²), aspect ratio (0.5 ≤ H/D ≤ 1.5), Reynolds number (5 ≤ Re_D,bf ≤ 3500), Eckert number (0 ≤ EC_bf ≤ 0.1) , porosity (0.85 ≤ ε ≤ 0.95), Hartmann number (0 ≤ Ha_D,bf ≤ 300) and the volume fraction of nanofluid (0 ≤ φ ≤ 0.1) reveals their impact on fluid flow and heat sink performance. Notably, Nusselt number will reduce 45%, rise 19.2%, decrease 14.1%, and decrease 0.15% for Reynolds numbers of 600, with rising porosity from 0.85 to 0.95, Darcy numbers from 10⁻⁴ to 10⁻², Eckert numbers from 0 to 0.1, and Hartman numbers from 0 to 300.

Despite notable progress in studying thermal management in CPU cooling systems using porous media and nanofluids, there are still significant gaps in the existing literature. First, few studies have considered the Darcy–Brinkman–Forchheimer equation, which accounts for non-Darcy effects and the flow and geometric interactions between coolant and porous medium. The influence of viscous dissipation on heat transfer in this specific geometry has also been largely overlooked. Additionally, while nanofluids and impinging jets have demonstrated potential in enhancing thermal performance, their utilization within porous media remains underexplored. Furthermore, the unique thermal and structural characteristics of porous media, along with the incorporation of a magnetic field, have not been fully investigated in this particular configuration. Consequently, this study aims to address these literature gaps and introduce novel advancements in analytical modeling, non-Darcy flow, viscous dissipation, nanofluid utilization, impinging jets, porous media characteristics and the impact of a magnetic field. These contributions hold promising prospects for improving CPU cooling system thermal management and have broader implications across various applications in the field.

The purpose of this study is an assessment of the existing roughness models to simulate the flow in the narrow gap between corotating and rough disks. A specific configuration of the flow through the gap, which forms a minichannel with variable cross sections and rotating walls, makes it a complex problem and, therefore, worth discussing in more detail.

Two roughness models were examined, the first one was based on the wall function modification by application of the shift in the dimensionless velocity profile, and the second one was based on the correction of turbulence parameters at the wall, proposed by Aupoix. Due to the lack of data to validate that specific case, the approach to deal with was selected after a systematic study of reported test cases. It started with a zero-pressure-gradient boundary layer in the flow over a flat plate, continued with flow through minichannels with stationary walls, and finally, focused on the flow between corotating discs, pertaining each time to smooth and rough surfaces.

The limitations of the roughness models were highlighted, which make the models not reliable in the application to minichannel flows. It concerns turbulence models, near-wall discretization and roughness approaches. Aupoix’s method to account for roughness was selected, and the influence of minichannel height, mass flow rate, fluid properties and roughness height on the velocity profile between corotating discs in both smooth and rough cases was discussed.

The originality of this study is the evaluation and validation of different methods to account for the roughness in rotating mini channels, where the protrusions can cover a substantial part of the channel. Flow behavior and performance of different turbulence models were analyzed as well.