Comparison of thermal performance of circular and elliptical pin fin heat sinks in assisting mixed convection

In this paper, we compare realistic, manufacturable two profiles of pin fin heat sinks, circular and elliptical, used in electronic cooling applications, subjected to assisting flow combined natural and forced convection. In order to compare a set of standard conditions like mass, fin height to diameter ratio, wetted area per unit volume and fin density were kept same for both circular and elliptic pin fin heat sink. An analytical model is formulated having capability of predicting influence of various geometrical, thermal and flow parameters on the thermal resistance of the heat sink. For comparison, experimental investigations are performed for inline and staggered alignment with various approach velocities in the mixed convection region to indirectly measure the heat transfer coefficient. On the basis of experimental data and the analytical model, it was observed that the thermal performance of elliptical pin fin heat sink outperforms circular pin fin heat sinks both in inline and in staggered arrangement.