Comparison of thermal-hydraulic performance of singe-phase micro-pin-fin and micro-channel heat sinks

This study compared thermal-hydraulic performance of a single-phase micro-pin-fin heat sink with that of a micro-channel heat sink having the same characteristic dimensions and operating under the same conditions. The objective was to explore the potential of micro-pin-fin heat sinks as an effective alternative to micro-channel heat sinks for dissipating high-heat-fluxes from small areas. The micro-pin-fin heat sink performance, represented by average convection thermal resistance and pressure loss, was determined experimentally. A micro-pin-fin heat sink was fabricated from 110 copper, and contained an array of 1950 staggered square micro-pin-fins with a 200times200 cross-section and a 670 mum height. Deionized water was employed as the cooling liquid. Coolant inlet temperatures of 30degC and 60degC, and six mass flow rates for each inlet temperature, ranging from 36.7 to 84.5 g/min, were tested. The micro-channel heat sink performance was determined using analytical models. A comparison of the performance showed that the micro-pin-fin heat sink had a lower convection thermal resistance at high cooling liquid flow rates, though it is accompanied by a higher pressure loss.