Numerical Heat Transfer Optimization in Modular Systems of Y-Shaped Fins

This paper analyses the heat exchange behavior in systems characterized by Y-shaped fins through a numerical approach based on a CFD software. Starting from individual Y profiles, as optimized in a previous work in relation to the dimensionless conductance and to the performance parameter of efficiency, it has been here investigated the advantage of a modular use of profiles. The analysis has been performed by superimposing some dimensional constraints to make immediately comparable the results obtained in the different configurations faced. Each module considered has a number of fins depending on the angle a between the two arms of the Y profile. This number depends therefore also on the horizontal width occupied by the whole system and it is upperly limited by the value allocated to the best performing individual fin. The results showed a significant increase of the dimensionless conductance and therefore of the exchanged thermal power for those multifin configurations with low values of a. This result validates the new optimization criterion proposed.

[1]  L. Hamilton,et al.  THE EFFECTS OF NONEQUILIBRIUM HEAT, MASS AND MOMENTUM TRANSFER ON TWO-PHASE SOUND SPEED , 1972 .

[2]  B. A. Jubran,et al.  Convective heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of various array configurations to simulate the cooling of electronic modules , 1996 .

[3]  D. Watt,et al.  Experimental study of transient natural convection in an inclined rectangular enclosure , 1997 .

[4]  Adrian Bejan,et al.  Constructal T-shaped fins , 2000 .

[5]  Ivan Catton,et al.  Numerical technique for modeling conjugate heat transfer in an electronic device heat sink , 2003 .

[6]  Vivek Sarin,et al.  Numerical Simulation for Mixed Convective Flow Over a Three-Dimensional Horizontal Backward Facing Step , 2004 .

[7]  Phillip M. Ligrani,et al.  Effects Of Dimple Depth on Channel Nusselt Numbers and Friction Factors , 2005 .

[8]  Ravi Kandasamy,et al.  Application of computational fluid dynamics simulation tools for thermal characterization of electronic packages , 2005 .

[9]  M. A. Ortega,et al.  Heat Transfer Studies in the Flow Over Shallow Cavities , 2005 .

[10]  Vivek Sarin,et al.  Numerical Simulation of Mixed Convective Flow Over a Three-Dimensional Horizontal Backward Facing Step , 2005 .

[11]  Giulio Lorenzini,et al.  Numerical analysis on heat removal from Y-shaped fins: Efficiency and volume occupied for a new approach to performance optimisation , 2007 .

[12]  Simone Moretti,et al.  A CFD Application to Optimize T-Shaped Fins: Comparisons to the Constructal Theory’s Results , 2007 .