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Thermal performance of a radial heat sink with longitudinal wavy fins for electronic cooling applications under natural convection
Journal
Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry
ISSN
13886150
Date Issued
2022-08-01
Author(s)
Rath, Subhasisa
Siddhartha,
Dash, Sukanta Kumar
Abstract
Heat dissipation by natural convection from heat generating electronic devices is a ubiquitous phenomenon in engineering and research to improve the thermal efficiency of the devices and upsurge their lifespan. In this context, this paper outlines a numerical study on the thermal performance of a radial heat sink with longitudinal wavy fins under the influence of pure natural convection. Three-dimensional numerical computations have been performed to elucidate the heat dissipation characteristics from a horizontally oriented radial heat sink with considering the following pertinent parameters: Rayleigh number (Ra), number of fins (Nfin), fin height (H/d), pitch-to-amplitude ratio (P/A) of the wavy fin, and number of cycles (n) in a wavy fin. A limiting case of straight longitudinal fins is also simulated to compare and justify the use of wavy fins over straight fins. At certain ranges of the pertinent parameters, wavy fins intensify the thermo-buoyant flow and augment the heat dissipation from the fin surface. The results reveal that wavy fins are superior to straight fins at higher Ra and below a critical Nfin, whereas straight fins are still superior at low Ra and higher values of Nfin. At higher Ra, the average Nusselt number (Nu) and fin effectiveness are higher for wavy fins of three cycles, followed by two and one cycles for Nfin below 24. Furthermore, the optimum Nfin for maximum fin effectiveness gradually increases with rise in Ra. The present study on longitudinal wavy fins affirms to be the very first research work in the field of radial heat sinks.
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