ANALYSIS OF PIN-FIN GEOMETRY EFFECT ON MICROCHANNEL HEAT SINK PERFORMANCE

The effect of pin fin geometry on the thermal performance of a microchannel heat sink is numerically analyzed in this study. Design/Methodology/Approach A numerical analysis is carried out using the conjugate heat transfer module of COMSOL MULTIPHYSICS software. The performance of microchannel is presented in terms of Nusselt number and pressure drop. Initially, the baseline model of a microchannel with elliptical pin fins is validated with results from the literature. The different shapes of pin fin are compared for their performance. In the later part of the paper, the effect of the change in elliptic pin fin orientation in the channel, different pin fin height and different axial distance between fins, is analyzed. Findings The thermal performance of a microchannel with square pin fins is found to be better, while the elliptical pin fin shows a minimum pressure drop. The 40o angle of the major axis of the elliptic pin fin with the channel axis is found to give better performance than other angles. Elliptical pin fins with 700µm pin fin height and 1300µm axial distance between fins in the microchannel performed better than other values. Increasing the pin fin height and proper selection of axial distance between fins are found to be better methods of increasing microchannel performance. Originality/Value This study is helpful in proper selection of pin fin geometry for enhancing the performance of microchannel heat sink.