Effects of the location of the inlet and outlet on heat transfer performance in pin fin CPU heat sink

摘要

A numerical analysis is performed for heat sinks with varied inlet and outlet layouts. The traditional model (heat sink A), has its inlet and outlet located on opposing sides. For heat sinks B-D, the coolant flows vertically into the heat sink from the center of the top wall. These models have either one, two, or four outlets near the sides of the top wall. The corresponding temperature fields, flow fields, pressure drop, and thermal characteristics are presented based upon a verified computational model. The numerical results indicate that the Nu number of the heat sink with four outlets is lower than that of the heat sink with one outlet. However, the four-outlet model presents a lower flow resistance and a higher comprehensive coefficient. The same thermal performance can be obtained with lower energy consumption when four-outlet heat sink D is used. This paper demonstrates that utilizing the proper layout can improve the comprehensive coefficient of a heat sink.