A Comparison between Predicted and Experimental Results for Swaged Fin Heat Sinks

This paper presents a comparison between the simulated and experimental thermal performance of four swaged mixed metal heat sink combinations exposed to forced convection. The four designs consist of all aluminum, all copper, copper base plate/aluminum fin and aluminum base plate/copper fin heat sink. The simulations were carried out using both CFD simulations and a systems CFD approach based on network methodology to simulate the flow distribution and empirical correlations for the heat transfer characteristics. The experiments were conducted within a vertical wind tunnel of Plexiglas walls such that the fins were positioned vertically and parallel to the airflow inside the tunnel. Simulations and experiments were performed for inter-fin Reynolds numbers between 1000 and 5000. The average rise in temperature were simulated and measured at eight locations along the heat sink. The results showed the thermal resistance obtained from the systems CFD approach matches the experimental results through the complete range of Re numbers, while the results obtained from the CFD simulations becomes inaccurate in the transition range between a Re of 2500 and 4500. From the results can be concluded that the all copper heat sink provided the lowest thermal resistance