A COMPARISON OF THE THERMAL PERFORMANCE OF A CONVENTIONAL FIN BLOCK AND PARTIALLY COPPER AND ALUMINUM FOAM EMBEDDED HEAT SINKS


Ataer S. K., Yamali C., ALBAYRAK K.

ISI BILIMI VE TEKNIGI DERGISI-JOURNAL OF THERMAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, vol.40, no.1, pp.155-165, 2020 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 40 Issue: 1
  • Publication Date: 2020
  • Journal Name: ISI BILIMI VE TEKNIGI DERGISI-JOURNAL OF THERMAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, Compendex, TR DİZİN (ULAKBİM)
  • Page Numbers: pp.155-165
  • Middle East Technical University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

In this research, the metal foams with 4,8,16 pores/cm, an aluminium foam which has 0.93 porosity and a copper foam which has 0.90 porosity that are integrated into a heat sink with a special geometry were designed and tested. During the process of the experiments, the thermal resistances and the pressure losses of the metal foam integrated heat sinks were tested by applying different heat fluxes (10.67, 15.75, 21.33 and 31.50 kW/m(2)) and two distinct frontal air velocities (4 and 6 m/s) to the specimens. The differences in the thermal performances of the heat sinks were observed by enforcing the custom-made manufactured heaters. The test results demonstrate that the pressure drop of the foam heat sinks is approximately four times more than the fin block; the average convection heat transfer coefficients of foam heat sinks are not dependent to the heater loads and the base plate temperatures of the foam sections were 1 to 1.5 degree lower than the foamless sections. This heat sink design provides lower temperatures on the desired locations of the electrical components than a conventional type fin block.