Constructal Placement of Discrete Heat Sources with Different Lengths in Vertical Ducts under Natural and Mixed Convection

In this study, convective heat transfer in a discretely heated parallel-plate vertical channel which simulates an IC package is investigated experimentally and numerically. Both natural and mixed convection cases are considered. The primary focus of the study is on determining optimum relative lengths of the heat sources in order to reduce the hot spot temperature and to maximize heat transfer from the sources to air. Various values of the length ratio and the modified Grashof number (for the natural convection case)/the Richardson number (for the mixed convection case) are examined. Conductive and radiative heat transfer is included in the analysis while air is used as the working fluid. Surface temperatures of the heat sources and the channel walls are measured in the experimental study. The numerical studies are performed using a commercial CFD code, ANSYS FLUENT. The variations of surface temperature, hot spot temperature, Nusselt number, and global conductance of the system are obtained for varying values of the working parameters. From the experimental studies, it is showed that the use of identical heat sources reduces the overall cooling performance both in natural and mixed convection. However, relatively decreasing heat sources lengths provides better cooling performance.