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Updated: May 5, 2026

Measurements of Local Instantaneous Convective Heat Transfer in a Pipe - Single and Two-phase Flow
Published on: April 30, 2018
Experimental Investigation of Fin Distribution Effects on Single-Phase Flow in Micro-Pin-Finned Heat Sinks with
Alperen Evcimen1, Burak Markal2, Mete Avci1
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, Rize 53100, Türkiye.
Abstract:
Technological development and thermal management are closely related, as chip-based units demand efficient cooling. Microchannel cooling is a key solution. This study, for the first time, experimentally and numerically investigates fin distributions with decreasing numbers, with/without staggered configurations, and the effect of dimples on single-phase flow in micro-pin-finned heat sinks. The database covers mass fluxes from 500 to 750 kg m-2 s-1 (in 50 increments) and four heat sinks (coded as MH-0, MH-1, MH-2, MH-3), with Reynolds numbers ranging from 234 to 327. Complementary numerical simulations were also employed to visualize flow structures and local Nusselt distributions to elucidate the experimental observations. It was concluded that low-velocity eddies occur in the dimples and between the successive pin-fins. The best thermal performance was obtained for MH-3, while the lowest pressure drop was measured for MH-1. Therefore, if heat transfer is the primary aim, MH-3 is preferred. MH-3 increases average Nusselt Number (Nuavg) by between 11.45% and 14.38% compared to MH-0. However, the pumping power results underline the importance of MH-1. Compared to MH-0, the pumping power decreases by up to 18.4% for MH-1, 16.6% for MH-2, and 13.8% for MH-3.
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