Pat Walsh

An Experimental Study on the Design of Miniature Heat Sinks for Forced Convection Air Cooling

An experimental study is performed on one of the smallest commercially available miniature fans, suitable for cooling portable electronic devices, used in conjunction with both finned and finless heat sinks of equal exterior dimensions. The maximum overall footprint area of the cooling solution is 534 mm 2 with a profile height of 5 mm. Previous analysis has shown that due to fan exit angle, flow does not enter the heat sinks parallel to the fins or bounding walls. This results in a nonuniform flow rate within the channels of the finned and finless heat sinks along with impingement of the flow at the entrance giving rise to large entrance pressure losses. In this paper straightening diffusers were attached at the exit of the fan, which resulted in aligning the flow entering the heat sinks with the fins and channel walls. Detailed velocity measurements were obtained using particle image velocimetry, which provided a further insight into the physics of the flow in such miniature geometries and in designing the straightening diffusers. The thermal analysis results indicate that the cooling power of the solution is increased by up to 20% through the introduction of a diffuser, hence demonstrating the need for integrated fan and heat sink design of low profile applications.

Heat Transfer Enhancement Using Laminar Gas-Liquid Segmented Plug Flows

Heat transfer enhancement using segmented nonboiling gas-liquid flow is examined. Segmentation results in a two phase flow of liquid/gas having a constant liquid fraction; i.e., no phase change occurs. In this flow configuration, enhanced heat transfer occurs as a result of a shorter effective thermal length due to internal fluid circulation in the liquid plugs. A simple theory for laminar segmented flows is developed based on scaled Graetz theory and comparisons made with existing published data from the literature and new experimental data obtained in a companion study. The proposed model is valid for an isothermal tube wall provided that the axial residence time of the flow is such that dimensionless tube length L * <0.1.

Thermal Management of Low Profile Electronic Equipment Using Radial Fans and Heat Sinks

There is an increasing need for low profile thermal management solutions for applications in the range of 5-10 W, targeted at portable electronic devices. This need is emerging due to enhanced power dissipation levels in portable electronics, such as mobile phones, portable gaming machines, and ultraportable personal computers. This work focuses on the optimization of such a solution within the constraints of the profile and footprint area. A number of fan geometries have been investigated where both the inlet and exit rotor angles are varied relative to the heat conducting fins on a heat sink. The ratio of the fan diameter to the heat sink fin length was also varied. The objective was to determine the optimal solution from a thermal management perspective within the defined constraints. The results show a good thermal performance and highlight the need to develop the heat sink and fan as an integrated thermal solution rather than in isolation as is the traditional methodology. An interesting finding is that the heat transfer scales are in line with turbulent rather than laminar correlations despite the low Reynolds number. It is also found that while increasing the pumping power generally improves the thermal performance, only small gains are achieved for relatively large pumping power increases. This is important in optimizing portable systems where reduced power consumption is a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

Profile Scaling of Miniature Centrifugal Fans

This paper addresses issues that relate to downscaling the height of centrifugal fans for application in low profile technologies, such as the cooling of portable power electronics. The parameters studied include flow rate, pressure rise, and power consumption characteristics. The former two of these are measured using a fan characterization rig and the latter by directly measuring the power supplied to the fan. These are studied for fan diameters ranging from 15 to 30 mm with numerous profile heights between 0.3 mm and 15 mm. It is found that all of the phenomena encountered are best described in terms of fan aspect ratio. The results show that the conventional scaling laws cannot be accurately applied when blade profile alone is scaled. Indeed, the only parameter reasonably well predicted was the pressure rise attainable, but that was only accurate for fan aspect ratios greater than 0.17. Below this, the pressure rise generated reduces logarithmically toward zero. The study also reveals that no advantage is gained by using fans of aspect ratio greater than 0.3, as the maximum flow rate attainable decreases slightly above this. Overall, the scaling phenomena reported herein provide invaluable information for the future design of efficient low-profile cooling solutions that are to incorporate such fans.

Simple Models for Laminar Thermally Developing Slug Flow in Noncircular Ducts and Channels

Solutions to the classical Graetz slug flow problem (uniform velocity distribution) in noncircular ducts are examined. These solutions have applications where a constant uniform velocity distribution exists across a channel or duct. These are most often realized in the laminar flow of low Prandtl number liquids, such as liquid metals, and low Reynolds number flows through porous media. Expressions are developed for a number of applications using the asymptotic correlation method of Churchill and Usagi. These expressions vary depending on the definition used for the dimensionless heat transfer coefficient, in the case of constant wall temperature boundary condition (T), and the dimensionless wall temperature for the constant flux boundary conditions (H) and (H1). Finally, simple expressions are developed for predicting the thermal entrance length and fully developed flow Nu values for noncircular ducts.

A Novel Approach to Low Profile Heat Sink Design

This paper discusses the importance of developing cooling solutions for low profile devices. This is addressed with an experimental and theoretical study on forced convection cooling solution designs that could be implemented into such devices. Conventional finned and corresponding finless designs of equal exterior dimensions are considered for three different heat sink profiles ranging from 1 mm to 4 mm in combination with a commercially available radial blower. The results show that forced convection heat transfer rates can be enhanced by up to 55% using finless designs at low profiles with relatively small footprint areas. Overall, this paper provides optimization and geometry selection criteria, which are relevant to designers of low profile cooling solutions. DOI: 10.1115/1.4001626

Laminar Slug Flow: Heat Transfer Characteristics With Constant Heat Flux Boundary

The problem of elevated heat flux in modern electronics has led to the development of numerous liquid cooling devices which yield superior heat transfer coefficients over their air based counterparts. This study investigates the use of liquid/gas slug flows where a liquid coolant is segregated into discrete slugs, resulting in a segmented flow, and heat transfer rates are enhanced by an internal circulation within slugs. This circulation directs cooler fluid from the center of the slug towards the heated surface and elevates the temperature difference at the wall. An experimental facility is built to examine this problem in circular tube flow with a constant wall heat flux boundary condition. This was attained by Joule heating a thin walled stainless steel tube. Water was used as the coolant and air as the segregating phase. The flow rates of each were controlled using high precision syringe pumps and a slug producing mechanism was introduced for segmenting the flow into slugs of various lengths at any particular flow rate. Tube flows with Reynolds numbers in the range 10 to 1500 were examined ensuring a well ordered segmented flow throughout. Heat transfer performance was calculated by measuring the exterior temperature of the thin tube wall at various locations using an Infrared camera. Nusselt number results are presented for inverse Graetz numbers over four decades, which spans both the thermally developing and developed regions. The results show that Nu in the early thermally developing region are slightly inferior to single phase flows for heat transfer performance but become far superior at higher values of inverse Gr. Additionally, the slug length plays an important role in maximizing Nusselt number in the fully developed region as Nu plateaus at different levels for slugs of differing lengths. Overall, this paper provides a new body of experimental findings relating to segmented flow heat transfer in constant heat flux tubes without boiling. Put abstract text here.Copyright

An experimental study on the performance of miniature heat sinks for forced convection air cooling

In recent years the design of portable electronic devices must incorporate thermal analyses to ensure the device can be adequately cooled to acceptable temperatures. Consumer demand for smaller, more powerful devices has lead to an increase in the heat required to be dissipated and a reduction in the surface area both of which result in an increased heat flux. In this paper, an experimental study is performed on one of the smallest commercially available miniature fans, suitable for cooling portable electronic devices, used in conjunction with both finned and finless heat sinks. Previous analysis has shown that due to fan exit angle, flow does not enter the heat sinks parallel to the fins or bounding walls. This results in a non uniform flow rate within the channels of the finned and finless heat sink along with impingement of the flow at the entrance giving rise to large entrance pressure losses. In this paper straightening diffusers were attached at the exit of the fan which resulted in aligning the flow entering the heat sinks with the fins and channel walls. In designing the finned heat sink current optimization criterion for finned heat exchangers has been applied to ensure maximum heat transfer rates; the finless heat sink was designed to the same specifications. The maximum overall footprint area of the cooling solution is 534 mm2 with a profile height of 5 mm. The thermal performance of each cooling solution was investigated by quantifying its thermal resistance over a range of fan speeds and comparing the results to cases without diffusers. In order to investigate the flow field, detailed velocity measurements were obtained using Particle Image Velocimetry, which provided a further insight into the physics of the flow in such miniature geometries and in designing the straightening diffusers. The thermal analysis results indicate that the cooling power of the solution is increased by up to 20% through the introduction of a diffuser. Hence, demonstrating the need for integrated fan and heat sink design of low profile applications.

The performance of active cooling in a mobile phone

Power dissipation levels in mobile electronics devices are heading towards five watts and above. With this power dissipation level, products such as mobile phones will require active cooling to ensure that the devices operate within an acceptable temperature envelop from both user comfort and reliability perspectives. To the authors knowledge no studies to date have been carried out to determine the potential performance of fans within mobile phone architectures. In this paper a centrifugal fan is implemented into a Nokia mobile phone. Its performance is compared in terms of aerodynamic characteristics, maximum phone surface temperature, and allowable phone heat dissipation, for various levels of blockage in the phone, which are simulated using perforated plates with varying porosity. The results show that for the best case scenario, with minimal blockage increased power dissipation levels of order 75% can be achieved but with realistic blockages this value is more likely to be in the region of 50%.

An Experimental Investigation of Heat Transfer Enhancement Mechanisms in Microencapsulated Phase-Change Material Slurry Flows

This article investigates laminar heat transfer characteristic of two-phase microencapsulated phase-change material (MPCM) suspension flows within minichannels under a constant wall heat flux boundary. Capsules containing paraffin wax with phase-change temperature between 36.1°C and 38.1°C are examined and found to be well suited for electronics cooling applications using liquid cold plate technologies. In particular, it is shown that the large thermal capacity of MPCM slurries around the phase-change temperature can lead toward greater isothermality of isoflux systems, a characteristic of significant interest to telecommunication, laser and biomedical applications. The principal focus of the study is to examine heat transfer characteristics within standard tube flow geometries, quantify the heat transfer augmentation/degradation observed, and finally, elucidate the mechanisms from which these result. Through the study volume concentrations of the MPCM slurry were varied between 0% and 30.2%. High-resolution local heat transfer measurements were obtained using infrared thermography and results presented in terms of local Nusselt number versus inverse Graetz parameter. These spanned both the thermal entrance and the fully developed flow regions with inverse Graetz number ranging from 10−3 to 100. Results show that significant heat transfer enhancements are attainable via the use of MPCM slurries over conventional single-phase coolants. Overall, the study highlights mechanisms that lead to significant heat transfer enhancements in heat exchange devices employing microencapsulated phase-change material slurries.