Flow Distribution in Parallel Rectangular Multi Microchannels in Single Phase

Abstract

This study proposed newly designed inlet manifolds to manage non-uniformity in parallel multi microchannel heat sink by introducing edges with a curved shape were introduced in order to reduce flow-recirculation at the sharp edges. This resulted in a better flow distribution in the parallel channels. A comprehensible numerical study has been performed using ANSYS-Fluent and a three-dimensional computational domain, incorporating the effect of conjugated heat transfer, was employed in this study. R134a was used as the working fluid and copper was selected as the heat sink material. The dimensionless channel flow ratio and flow maldistribution factor were introduced to quantify the flow distribution inside individual channels and the uniformity of this flow distribution. A uniform flow distribution is achieved when the maldistribution factor value approaches 0.