Performance of manifold microchannel liquid cooling

doi:10.11949/0438-1157.20231228

Abstract

Abstract:

As advancements in information technology progress, chip development is moving towards large-area, high-power configurations, posing significant challenges in heat management. Microchannel liquid cooling has emerged as a viable solution to address the thermal management difficulties associated with high-power chips. Microchannel liquid cooling has emerged as a solution to address the thermal management difficulties associated with high-power chips. However, traditional straight microchannels suffer from high flow resistance and poor temperature uniformity. This paper introduces a novel manifold microchannel heat sink by incorporating a manifold inlet/outlet liquid structure, distributed jet impingement, and micro-pin fins. Under conditions where the average heat flux density exceeds 330 W/cm² and the total power reaches 2500 W, the chip’s average temperature remains below 70℃, indicating that high efficiency cooling is achieved. Through numerical simulation, it is found that increasing the height of the jet impingement chamber leads to a significantly increase in heat transfer coefficient, albeit at the expense of an obvious increase in overall pressure drop. An optimum height of the jet impingement chamber is thereby identified. The dimensions of the micro-pin fins on the base plate, along with their relative proportions to the size of jet impingement chamber, emerge as critical structural parameters for the proposed microchannel heat sink. The presence of micro-pin fins does not uniformly contribute to heat transfer enhancement. A dimensionless parameter, micro-pin fin ratio, is introduced to signify the relative height between the micro-pin fins and the jet impingement chamber. A critical micro-pin fin ratio is realized by balancing the obstructing and enhancing effects. When the proportion of fins is higher than this critical value, the effect of enhanced heat transfer can be achieved. This study provides valuable guidance for the systematic design of the novel microchannel heat sink.

Key words: microchannels, heat transfer, numerical simulation, turbulent flow, computational fluid dynamics

摘要：

随着信息技术进步，芯片向大面积、高功率方向发展，对热管理提出了严峻挑战。微通道液冷能够解决高功率芯片散热难题，但传统平直微通道热沉流阻大、温度均匀性差。提出了一种耦合歧管式进出液结构、分布式射流和微针翅的新型歧管式微通道散热器，在平均热通量高于330 W/cm²、总功率达到2500 W时，芯片平均温度低于70℃，实现了高效散热。通过数值模拟发现：降低散热器射流腔高度可显著强化传热，但整体压降也随之陡升，存在一个最佳射流腔高度；散热器底板的微针翅尺寸及其与射流腔的相对尺寸是新型歧管式微通道散热器的重要结构参数，微针翅的存在并不是绝对有益于传热强化。定义了微针翅与射流腔之间相对高度的无量纲参数——翅占比，存在临界翅占比使得阻碍效应和强化效应相抵消，当翅占比高于这一临界值时才能达到强化换热效果。本研究为新型歧管式微通道散热器的设计提供了指导。

关键词: 微通道, 传热, 数值模拟, 湍流, 计算流体力学

CLC Number:

TQ 028.8

Fan LIU, Yuantong ZHANG, Cheng TAO, Chengyu HU, Xiaoping YANG, Jinjia WEI. Performance of manifold microchannel liquid cooling[J]. CIESC Journal, 2024, 75(5): 1777-1786.

刘帆, 张芫通, 陶成, 胡成玉, 杨小平, 魏进家. 歧管式射流微通道液冷散热性能[J]. 化工学报, 2024, 75(5): 1777-1786.

Figures/Tables 11

Fig.1 Schematic diagram of novel manifold microchannel heat sink

Fig.2 Structure of test section

Table 1 Boundary conditions of numerical simulation and experimental test of novel manifold microchannel heat sink

参数	数值模拟参数值	对比实验参数值
芯片面积/mm²	2.5×3	2.5×3
总功率/W	2000~2500	2500
工质	去离子水	去离子水
入口温度T_in/℃	25	25
入口流量 G_in/(L/min)	1~6	1~6
流入流出分液板厚h_n/mm	2	2
微针翅尺寸
边长d_pin（长、宽）= 间隙w_pin/μm	100~600	200
高度h_pin/μm	200~1200	600
射流腔尺寸
射流孔规格	5×7	5×7
射流孔直径/mm	2	2
排液孔宽度/mm	2.5	2.5
射流腔高度h_jet/μm	200~2400	1000
歧管层尺寸
流道高度 h_c/mm	2	2

Fig.3 Schematic of geometric structure and mesh partitioning

Fig.4 Comparison of numerical simulation and experimental results

Fig.5 Profile of chip average temperature and pressure drop with jet height (Gin=3 L/min, smooth surface)

Fig.6 Distribution of velocity in jet chamber and heat transfer coefficient on substrate

Fig.7 Effect of jet chamber height and micro-pinfin size on average chip temperaturess—smooth surface; ps—pinfin surface

Fig.8 Schematic diagram of heat transfer coefficients on different surfaces

Fig.9 Effect of pin-fin size on heat transfer performance

Fig.10 Velocity field contour plots

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