Fluid Flow and Heat Transfer Characteristics of a Centrifugal Heat Sink

A novel heat sink called a centrifugal heat sink is proposed. The principle of coolant pumping in the centrifugal heat sink is similar to a centrifugal fan. The blades of a fan are arranged to be placed between the fins of the heat sink. Due to the relative structure of the blades and the fins, additional space for the blades of the fan is no longer required for the centrifugal heat sink. Consequently, the centrifugal heat sink makes efficient use of its total amount of cooling space. The shape of the blades for coolant pumping is based on the design principles of centrifugal turbomachinery. Due to the design principles, it is possible to increase the volumetric flow rate of the air through the heat sink. By the rotary motion of the blades, the coolant in the heat sink passes through channels formed by the adjacent fins. In this paper, an experimental investigation is conducted to demonstrate the concept of the centrifugal heat sink. As the speed of the fan increases, the volumetric flow rate is shown to increase proportionally. Thermal performance of the centrifugal heat sink is evaluated in terms of the thermal resistance under the constant heat flux condition. As a result, the thermal resistance of the centrifugal heat sink is shown to decrease as the rotation speed of the centrifugal heat sink increases.