Analysis of the Effect of Tortuosity Porous Heatsink on Force Convection Heat Transfer

Abstract

The improvement of performance in modern electronic devices has driven rapid advancements in the field of thermal management. Excessive heating of electronic components can lead to damage and decreased device performance. This research aimed to analyze the effect of tortuosity porous heatsink on force convection heat transfer. Computational fluid dynamics methodology was used to model airflow and the distribution of temperature, velocity, convective heat transfer coefficient, and turbulence kinetic energy (TKE) in heatsinks with varying tortuosity levels. Results show that tortuosity has a positive linear correlation with heatsink surface area and pressure drop. However, it has a negative linear correlation with surface heat transfer coefficient (SHTC). When the tortuosity increases, the surface area increases from 9298.48 mm2 to 12711.93 mm2, and the pressure drop increases from 19.587 Pa to 24.296 Pa. By contrast, the surface heat transfer coefficient decreased significantly from 41.1214 W m-2 K-1 to 30.8454 W m-2 K-1. This study also shows that heatsinks with low tortuosity have a more uniform distribution of temperature, velocity, and TKE, resulting in higher cooling efficiency. Thus, we conclude that tortuosity is an important factor in heatsink design and optimization, and a suitable level of tortuosity should be achieved.