Effect of position and height of a shield on convective heat transfer performances of plate fin heat sink

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the thermal and dynamic performance of the plate-fin heat sink fitted with a shield in the bypass.

Design/methodology/approach

The governing equations were solved using the finite volume method based on the SIMPLE algorithm. The k-ω Shear Stress Transport was used to model turbulence. The thermal and dynamic results were presented in term of average Nusselt number and friction factor, respectively. The effect of the height (Hs=6, 10 and 13) and the position (X=0, 1/3, 1/2, 2/3 and 3/4) of the shield was studied for a Reynolds number ranging from 2×103 to 12×103 and compared with a heat sink without shield. To evaluate the performance of different heat sink geometries, the efficiency was presented and discussed.

Findings

By adding a shield in the bypass, a greater amount of air is injected between the heat sink fins, which improves the heat transfer (advantage) of the one part, and increases the friction on the other hand (disadvantage). The efficiency of the heat sink varies inversely proportional with the Reynolds number.

Originality/value

The originality of this work is the method for enhancement of heat transfer.

Citation

Bouchenafa, R., Saim, R., Abboudi, S. and Öztop, H.F. (2015), "Effect of position and height of a shield on convective heat transfer performances of plate fin heat sink", International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, Vol. 25 No. 5, pp. 1047-1063. https://doi.org/10.1108/HFF-07-2014-0212