CFD Analysis on Various Designs of Heat Sink

This study entails the design and analysis of various heat sink configurations. It was observed that by adding protrusions and cavities to the fins, the heat transfer rate from the heat sink increased. Five new heat sink designs were modeled on SOLIDWORKS and CFD analysis was carried out on ANSYS FLUENT 19.2. Parameters like base temperature, thermal resistance, and pressure drop were noted and compared for each design for the inlet air velocities ranging from 0.5 to 4.5 m/s at steps of 0.5. The proposed new designs were analyzed under similar boundary conditions and simulated. The CFD analysis of heatsinks with the addition of ribs and cavities resulted in a drop of 6% in the base temperature and 33% in the thermal resistance than a flat plate heat sink and hence, the study came to the conclusion that heat sinks with protrusions or cavities showed a much better thermal efficiency when compared to heat sinks with flat plates as fins.