Numerical investigation of fluid flow and heat transfer in trapezoidal microchannel with groove structure

Abstract

Abstract Numerical analysis of fluid flow and heat transfer in a trapezoidal microchannel was done using finite volume method for the range of Reynolds number 96 to 720. Three-dimensional simulations were carried out at constant heat flux and different pressure drop conditions to determine the optimum heat flux distributions across the microchannels. Further, the added effects of rectangular and semi-circular type grooves fabricated inside the microchannel were investigated. For the validation of numerical simulation of the rectangular and trapezoidal microchannel, pressure drop is measured for wide range of Reynolds number experimentally and found comparison well. Heat transfer, Nusselt number and performance factors were calculated from simulations for both microchannel. It was observed that the heat transfer in the trapezoidal shaped microchannel significantly increased by 12%, compared with the rectangular shaped microchannel. The average Nusselt number were found to be of a high value with increase in Reynolds number as well as channel perturbations due to the presence of grooves on the channel walls. Furthermore, the enhanced effects of size and number of grooves were systematically analyzed in the trapezoidal microchannel.