Numerical investigation of the influence of heat-generating components on the heat dissipation in a tower server

Abstract

Many of today’s servers rely on high-power electronic components. During continuous operation, elevated temperatures can lead to sluggish performance and system instability. Therefore, servers urgently require safe and reliable heat dissipation systems. In this work, we focus on a highly scalable tower server as our research subject, exploring its maximum configuration within the designated range. We aim to enhance the server’s thermal performance through a parametric investigation of factors such as the server air outlet, the FAR in air outlet, and the layout of GPUs. The results demonstrate that narrowing the air outlet can effectively reduce the temperature of GPU-2 by 2.83 °C. Further analysis reveals that an optimal FAR of 0.74 for the air outlet leads to a temperature decrease of 1.67 °C for GPU-2 compared to a FAR of 0.24. Moreover, adjusting the position of GPU-2, specifically employing the VLO-L71.16-1 structure with the air outlet positioned on the GPU-1 side, yields optimal heat dissipation performance, resulting in a remarkable temperature decrease of 16.63 °C for GPU-2. Additionally, it was observed that GPU-2 in the base case approaches its limiting temperature. By optimizing the structure to VLO-L71.16-1, the study managed to reduce fan airflow while maintaining GPU-2 within safe operating temperatures. Specifically, the optimal structure achieves approximately 35 % airflow savings when GPU-2 reaches its limiting temperature. This research provides valuable insights for the exploration and design of novel server cooling systems.