Analysis of Jet and Cross Flow Interaction with Application in Hotspot Electronics Cooling

Abstract

The increased processing power offered by many modern computers has come at the cost of increased heat generation, which must be dealt with using appropriately designed cooling mechanisms. While simple convection cooling systems can be adequate for some applications, certain configurations of electronics cause centralized "hotspots" of increased heat flux that must be treated with more focused cooling techniques. In this study, air impingement cooling applied at a heated surface with a hotspot is studied and the jet and cross flow interaction in the channel is analyzed. The effects of square, streamwise rectangular, and spanwise rectangular jet cross sections are investigated and discussed for the same impinging jet velocity and mass flow rate. Grid resolution study is conducted to ensure mesh independency of results. Also, code validation study is performed against experimental data in literature. The results indicate that the combination of jet impingement and cross flow cooling provide more efficient cooling at the target surface subject to the applied heat flux and hotspot. Furthermore, the results show that streamwise rectangular jets provide better cooling, especially in streamwise direction. The square geometry provides the most uniformly cooled area. The spanwise rectangular jets are less efficient compared to other studied jet geometries.