Characterization of longitudinal fin heat sink thermal performance and flow bypass effects through CFD methods

The thermal characteristics of straight-channel longitudinal fin heat sinks under forced air cooling is studied experimentally and numerically using computational fluid dynamics code. The aim of the study is to investigate the viability of employing commercially available CFD codes as effective and efficient means of gathering the vast amount of data required to adequately quantify heat sink characteristics in ducted flow. The parameters studied include the tip clearance and spanwise spacing across a range of approach flow rates and fin densities. These parameters were used to examine the influence of flow bypass phenomena on the thermal resistance and pressure drop across the heat sinks. Detailed results on the local and lump-parameter heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics are presented.