CFD analysis for optimum thermal design of a carbon nanotube based micro-channel heatsink

Abstract

Carbon nanotube (CNT) is considered as an ideal material for thermal management in electronic packaging because of its extraordinary high thermal conductivity. A series of 2D and 3D CFD simulations have been carried out for CNT based micro-channel cooling architectures based on one and two dimensional fin array in this paper using COMSOL 4.0a software. Micro-channels are generally regarded as an effective method for the heat transfer in electronic products. The influence of various fluids, micro-fin structures, micro-fin array, fluid velocity and heating powers on cooling effects have been simulated and compared in this study. Steady-state thermal stress analyses for the forced convection heat transfer have also been performed to determine maximum allowable stress and deflections for the different types of cooling assembly.