Enhancing Heat Transfer in Mini-Scale Liquid-Cooled Heat Sinks by Flow Oscillation—A Numerical Analysis

Oscillatory baffled flows (OBFs) provide a combined active and passive means of achieving convective heat transfer enhancement, and previous studies at large scale have demonstrated the heat transfer benefits of OBFs. To date, however, this technology has not been scaled down for the purpose of heat sink performance enhancement. Presented in this study is a numerical investigation of a single baffled channel with a hydraulic diameter of 2.8 mm, containing gate baffles, with a 50% open area, which are spaced 7.5 mm apart. Three net-flow rates were investigated while varying the oscillation conditions by varying the oscillation amplitude (3 mm to 7 mm) and by varying the oscillation frequency (0 to 8 Hz). Increasing the oscillation intensity had a greater impact on the Nusselt number compared to simply increasing the net-flow rate, with Nu enhancements of up to 330% observed when imposing oscillatory flow on a purely steady flow. Ideal operating conditions were identified by grouping the data by velocity ratio (Ψ) and graphing the theoretical pumping power against the thermal resistance of the channel. The highest Nu enhancement of 330% was achieved for a net-flow Reynolds number (Ren) of 165, oscillatory amplitude of 5 mm and a frequency of 8 Hz. Ideal operating conditions can be predicted by selecting conditions with Ψ > 1. A flow with a Ren of 46, Ψ of 7 and Nu = 12 required the same pumping power as a flow with a Ren of 165, Ψ of 0.65 and Nu = 6.