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Published on: October 5, 2018
Decoupling Thermal and Hydraulic Performance in Cross-Flow Micro Heat Exchangers via Mixed-Geometry Channel Designs
Quanyi Zhou1, Zheng Chang1,2, Qi Wang1
1School of Naval Architecture and Maritime, Zhejiang Ocean University, Zhoushan 316022, China.
Abstract:
Cross-flow micro heat exchangers enable compact thermal management for high-density electronics, but their design is traditionally constrained by a strict trade-off between heat transfer and hydraulic resistance. To mitigate this limitation, we investigate the influence of mixed-geometry channel designs on the coupled thermal and hydraulic performance using a three-dimensional conjugate heat transfer model of water flowing through a stainless-steel micro-matrix with a 40-micrometer hydraulic diameter. Numerical simulations show that at low Reynolds numbers (100 to 200), corner-induced steady three-dimensional flow redistribution modifies the thermal boundary layer, causing convective and hydraulic performance to deviate from standard macroscale predictions. By expanding the transverse microchannel spacing from 10 to 60 μm, the Nusselt number increases from 1.15 to 2.07 while maintaining a nearly constant pressure gradient. These results provide geometric guidelines for designing high-efficiency microfluidic cooling systems by mitigating the traditional trade-off between heat-transfer enhancement and hydraulic resistance. Among the geometries evaluated, pure square channels maximize heat transfer, hybrid circular-square configurations optimize hydraulic efficiency, and triangular designs perform poorly due to high viscous drag. These results provide geometric guidelines for mitigating the traditional trade-off between heat-transfer enhancement and hydraulic resistance in microfluidic cooling systems.
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Mechanisms of Heat Transfer
Conduction, accounting for approximately 3% of body heat loss at rest, is the process of exchanging heat between molecules of two materials in direct contact. This can result in both heat loss and gain. For instance, when the body is submerged in water, which conducts heat 20 times more effectively than air, it can either lose or gain significant heat.
