Comparative Numerical Analysis of Angled Branching Microchannel Heat Sink

Branching microchannel networks have been considered as an effective liquid cooling system for electronic components. In this paper, an asymmetric angled branching design of microchannel network is introduced and compared with the parallel branching cooling system. Full CFD models based on finite-element analysis are established to analyze their thermal performances under uniform heat distribution. Performances of angled branching network and a series of parallel networks are compared for a pressure range from 0.5psi to 4psi. Results indicate that the angled branching network dissipates heat better at lower provided pressure drop due to its small flow resistance and flexibility in fluid transportation. On the other hand, a lower peak temperature is noted for the parallel branching network at higher pressure head.