Thermo-fluid analysis of micro pin-fin array cooling configurations for high heat fluxes with a hot spot

Effect of micro pin-fin shapes on cooling of high heat flux electronic chips with a single hot spot was investigated numerically. Hydrothermal performances of different micro pin-fin shapes were evaluated. Circular shape, hydrofoil shape, modified hydrofoil shape, and symmetric convex shape were the cross section shapes used for micro pin-fins. All cooling configurations had the same staggered arrangements for micro pin-fins. An electronic chip with a 2.45 x 2.45 mm footprint having a hot spot of 0.5 x 0.5 mm at its centre was used for simulations. Uniform heat flux of 2000 W cm(-2) was applied at the hot spot. The rest of the chip was exposed to 1000 W cm(-2) uniform heat load. The cross section area of the circular shape and hydrofoil shape micro pin-fins was kept the same to have a fair comparison. Convex and hydrofoil shape designs showed significant reduction in the required pumping power as well as the maximum required pressure. In the last case, the height of micro pin-fins was increased from 200 mu m to 400 pm to remove 100% of the total heat load via convection, and at the same time keep the maximum temperatures within an acceptable range. (C) 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.