CFD Simulations in the Design and Evaluation of Heat Sinks

The roles of CFD simulations in the design of heat sinks are discussed drawing two examples, one is the plate-fin array cooled by planar impinging air flow, and the other is the grooved heat transfer surface of a simulated chip cooled by dielectric coolant. In both examples the CFD analysis is performed to clarify the details of coolant flow and heat transfer in narrow channels which are difficult to capture by experimantal means. The experiments, which were conducted in parallel with the CFD analyses, provide the benchmarks for the CFD. It is emphasized that, in an endeavor to develop thermal design codes, the CFD simulation and the experiment are complementary to each other.