Numerical Study of Thermal Enhancement in a Single- and Double-Layer Microchannel Heat Sink with Different Ribs

Abstract

In this paper, a microchannel heat sink model was proposed to realize single- and double- layer flow through built-in ribs. The finite element volume method was used to analyze the influence of the length, thickness and angle of the inner rib on the flow and heat transfer characteristics of the microchannel heat sink. The pressure drop, temperature field, flow field, and thermal characteristics are given. The numerical simulation results show that the rectangular rib plate makes the fluid in the microchannel heat sink flow alternately in the upper and lower layers, which can effectively enhance heat transfer. However, with the increase in rib length, the comprehensive evaluation factor decreases. The change of the angle of the rectangular rib plate has little influence on the Nusselt number. The change rate of the comprehensive evaluation factor of the thickness of the rectangular rib plate is the largest. When the Reynolds number is 1724, the comprehensive evaluation factor of Case 9 is 4.7% higher than that of Case 2. According to the parameter study of the built-in rib plate, the optimal parameter combination is given, in which the angle is 0°, the length is 7.5 mm, and the thickness is 0.2–0.3 mm.