Thermal Performance of Plate Heat Sinks with Dimples

Abstract

Thermal mismanagement has been identified as the leading cause of electronic chip or processor failures. In this article, the influence of adding dimples to standard plate heat sink configuration for heat transfer enhancement is analyzed. A constant temperature load of 403 K is added to heat sink base and the analysis is done in a forced convention scenario computationally for 12 different heat sink designs at nine different velocities (0.5–4.5 m/s) by considering heat transfer, pressure drop, thermal resistance, and effectiveness of heat sink as the performance variables. Experimental results are used to validate computational results. The results reveal that dimpled heat sink have about 25% improvement in heat transfer with 26% less thermal resistance than non-dimpled heat sinks at air velocities greater than 1.5 m/s. Thermal performance deteriorated by up to 8.3% for dimpled heat sinks at air velocities less than 1.5 m/s. Hence, the use of dimples in heat sinks is the potential approach for the thermal management of processors.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Seenappa Nirmala Sharath Kumar

Seenappa Nirmala Sharath Kumar received his post-graduation degree from University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering, Bangalore University, Bengaluru, India. His area of specialization is thermal science and engineering. He is currently employed in Dr. Ambedkar Institute of Technology, Bengaluru as an Assistant Professor. His research area is thermal management of electronic devices and research interests are vehicle aerodynamics and turbine blade cooling.

Srinivasaiah Sathish

Srinivasaiah Sathish is currently employed in Dr. Ambedkar Institute of Technology, Bengaluru as an Associate Professor. He was awarded with Ph.D. degree from Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belagavi and master’s degree from IIT Madras, Chennai. His research interest is in the field of shape memory alloys.

Harthi Revanasiddappa Purushothama

Harthi Revanasiddappa Purushothama is currently working as Professor and Head of Department of Mechanical Engineering, Siddaganga Institute of Technology, Tumukur. He obtained his Ph.D. degree from IIT Madras, Chennai, India in 2011. His research areas are internal combustion engines, alternate fuels, heat transfer, gas turbines, and fluid mechanics.