Comparison of cooling performance of manifold and straight microchannel heat sinks using CFD simulation

Abstract

Manifold microchannel heat sink is a promising alternative to the standard design with straight microchannels. Due to its inherent properties, it allows for better cooling performance and increased cooling efficiency. In this paper, we present the study which compares those two designs and tries to precisely quantify the cooling improvement obtained by using manifolds. Concretely, it is shown that for the same pressure drop, the cooling system based on manifold channels allows for about 50% reduction of temperature rise compared to the cooling system based on straight microchannels. Moreover, it is argued that manifold microchannels are most effective for shorter channels and faster fluid flows.