Computational modeling of vortex shedding in water cooling of 3D integrated electronics

This work aims at understanding the flow and heat transfer through a microcavity populated with micropins, representing a layer of a 3D integrated electronic chip stack with integrated cooling. The resulting vortex shedding behavior and its effect on the heat removal is analyzed in the Reynolds number (Re) range from 60 to 450. The lateral confinement, expressed as the ratio of diameter to lateral distance between two cylinders’ centers, is varied between 0.1 and 0.5; the longitudinal confinement (diameter to longitudinal distance between two cylinders’ centers) between 0.25 and 0.5; and vertical confinement (diameter to microcavity height ratio) between 0.1 and 0.5. For a single pin, as the lateral confinement is increased, the Strouhal number (St) and the shedding frequency increase by up to 100%. The thermal performance represented by the spatiotemporal averaged Nusselt number (Nu), based on the average pin surface and fluid temperatures, is also enhanced by over 30%. A direct relationship between Nu and the shedding frequency was found. For a row of pins, Nu in the vortex shedding regime was found to be up to 300% higher compared to the steady case. A decrease in the longitudinal confinement, tested with rows of pins (either with 50 or 25 pins) in the streamwise direction, led to an upstream migration of the vortex shedding location and in more homogeneous but higher wall temperatures. This coincided with a drastic reduction of pressure losses and a 30% Nu enhancement for the same pumping power. Finally, the vertical confinement is also investigated with 3D simulations around a single cylinder. With increasing Re and vertical confinement, the wake becomes strongly three-dimensional. For a given Re, the increase of vertical confinement naturally shows a suppression or even a complete elimination of the vortex shedding due to a strong end-wall effect. Our results shed light on the effects of confinement on vortex shedding and related heat transfer in the integrated cooling of 3D chip stacks.     

Unsteady flow and heat transfer analysis of an impinging synthetic jet

The present paper focuses on the analysis of unsteady flow and heat transfer regarding an axisymmetric impinging synthetic jet on a constant heat flux disc. Synthetic jet is a zero net mass flux jet that provides an unsteady flow without any external source of fluid. Present results are validated against the available experimental data showing that the SST/k − ω turbulence model is more accurate and reliable than the standard and low-Re k − ε models for predicting heat transfer from an impinging synthetic jet. It is found that the time-averaged Nusselt number enhances as the nozzle-to-plate distance is increased. As the oscillation frequency in the range of 16–400 Hz is increased, the heat transfer is enhanced. It is shown that the instantaneous Nu distribution along the wall is influenced mainly by the interaction of produced vortex ring and wall boundary layer. Also, the fluctuation level of Nu decreases as the frequency is raised.     

Hysteretic heat transfer study of liquid–liquid two-phase flow in a T-junction microchannel

Liquid–liquid two-phase flow in microchannels is capable of boosting the heat removal rate in cooling processes. Formation of different two-phase flow patterns which affect the heat transfer rate is numerically investigated here in a T-junction containing water-oil flow. For this purpose, the finite element method (FEM) is applied to solve the unsteady two-phase Navier–Stokes equations along with the level set (LS) equation in order to capture the interface between phases. It is shown that the two-phase flow pattern in microchannels depends on the flow initial condition which causes hysteresis effect in two-phase flow. In this study, the hysteresis is observed in flow pattern and consequently in the heat transfer rate. The effect of wall contact angle on the hydrodynamics and heat transfer in the microchannel is investigated to gain useful insight into the hysteresis phenomenon. It is observed that the hysteresis is significant in super-hydrophilic microchannels, while it disappears at the contact angle of 75^°. The effect of water to oil flow rate ratio (Q_wat/Q_oil) on the heat transfer is also studied. The flow rate ratio has a negligible effect on the Nusselt number (Nu) in the dripping regime, while the Nu decreases with an increase of Q_wat/Q_oil in the co-flow regime. The thickness of the oil film, velocity, and temperature distribution are studied in the co-flow regime. It is revealed that the normalized slip velocity reduces at higher values of Q_wat/Q_oil, which causes a reduction in the averaged Nu. In dripping regimes, higher flow rate ratios lead to a more frequent generation of droplet/slugs at a smaller size. The passage of the slugs or droplets increases the local Nu. Larger droplets generated at lower flow rate ratios cause a larger increase in the local Nu than smaller droplets. The temperature and velocity field around the droplets are also illustrated to investigate the heat transfer improvement. The generated vortex at the tip of the oil jet causes an increase in the velocity and Nu on the water side.     

Effects of a turbulent wall jet on heat transfer over a non-confined backward-facing step

Experimental and numerical analysis of a turbulent wall jet on the heat transfer downstream of a non-confined backward-facing step are presented. Several configurations are studied to analyse the influence of the upstream flow and the height of the step. An infrared camera and a hot wire were used to visualize a temperature map and measure the instantaneous velocity, respectively. The main objective was to visualize and compare both the fluid flow and the heat transfer, by studying the skin friction coefficient C_f and the Nusselt number Nu_d, respectively. The latter is obtained by the calculation of the heat transfer coefficient, evaluated by inverse method. Both experimental data and numerical approach provide good agreement regarding the flow structure and thermal data for measuring the position and the value of characteristics scales in the recirculation zone. A correlation between the maximum heat transfer Nu_max and the maximum Reynolds number Re_max is presented. Similarities and differences are highlighted in the paper compared to confined configurations.     

Effect on the flow and heat transfer characteristics for sinusoidal pulsating laminar flow in a heated square cylinder

Two-dimensional numerical simulation is performed to understand the effect of flow pulsation on the flow and heat transfer from a heated square cylinder at Re = 100. Numerical calculations are carried out by using a finite volume method based on the pressure-implicit with splitting of operators algorithm in a collocated grid. The effects of flow pulsation amplitude (0.2 ≤ A ≤ 0.8) and frequency (0 ≤ f _p  ≤ 20 Hz) on the detailed kinematics of flow (streamlines, vorticity patterns), the macroscopic parameters (drag coefficient, vortex shedding frequency) and heat transfer enhancement are presented in detail. The Strouhal number of vortices shedding, drag coefficient for non-pulsating flow are compared with the previously published data, and good agreement is found. The lock-on phenomenon is observed for a square cylinder in the present flow pulsation. When the pulsating frequency is within the lock-on regime, time averaged drag coefficient and heat transfer from the square cylinder is substantially augmented, and when the pulsating frequency in about the natural vortex shedding frequency, the heat transfer is also substantially enhanced. In addition, the influence of the pulsating amplitude on the time averaged drag coefficient, heat transfer enhancement and lock-on occurrence is discussed in detail.     

Experimental investigation of the interaction between a plane wall jet and a parallel offset jet

The dual-jet flow generated by a plane wall jet and a parallel offset jet at an offset ratio of d/w = 1.0 has been investigated using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). The particle images are captured, processed, and subsequently used to characterize the flow in terms of the 2D velocity and vorticity distributions. Statistical characteristics of the flow are obtained through ensemble averaging of 360 instantaneous velocity fields. Also presented is a time series of instantaneous flow fields to illustrate the dynamic interaction between the two jets. Results reveal that the near field of the flow is characterized by a periodic large-scale Karman-like vortex shedding similar to what would be expected in the wake of a bluff body. The existence of the Karman-like vortices results in periodic interactions between the two jets; in addition, these vortices produce noticeable impact on the jet outer layers, i.e., the free shear layer of the offset jet and the wall boundary layer of the wall jet. A schematic of vortex/shear layer interaction is proposed to illustrate the flow pattern.     

Unsteady entrance heat transfer in laminar pipe flows with convection from the ambient

The characteristics of unsteady entrance heat transfer in the combined entrance heat transfer region of laminar pipe flows resulting from time-varying inlet temperature are numerically investigated. Three non-dimensional parameters,Nu ₀, a^*, andf are identified in the study. Also, their effects on the non-dimensional duct wall temperature, fluid bulk temperature, and duct wall heat flux are discussed in great detail. Comparisons are made with the zero thermal capacity wall solution.     

Computation of heat transfer enhancement in a plate‐fin heat exchanger with triangular inserts and delta wing vortex generator

Longitudinal vortices disrupt the growth of the thermal boundary layer, thereby the vortex generators producing the longitudinal vortices are well known for the enhancement of heat transfer in compact heat exchangers. The present investigation determines the heat transfer characteristics with secondary flow analysis in plate fin triangular ducts with delta wing vortex generators. This geometrical configuration is investigated for various angles of attack of the wing i.e. 15°, 20°, 26° and 37° and Reynolds numbers 100 and 200. The constant wall temperature boundary condition is used. The solution of the complete Navier Stokes equation and the energy equation is carried out using the staggered grid arrangement. The performance of the combination of triangular secondary fins and delta wing with stamping on slant surfaces has also been studied. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Heat transfer in film-cooled turbulent boundary layers at different blowing ratios as affected by longitudinal vortices

Effects of embedded longitudinal vortices on heat transfer in film-cooled turbulent boundary layers at different blowing ratios are discussed. These results were obtained in boundary layers at free-stream velocities of 10 and 15 m/s. Film coolant was injected from a single row of holes at blowing ratios of 0.47–1.26. A single longitudinal vortex was induced upstream of the film-cooling holes using a half-delta wing attached to the wind tunnel floor. Heat transfer measurements were made downstream of injection using a constant heat flux surface with 126 thermocouples for surface temperature measurements. For all blowing ratios examined, the embedded vortices cause significant alterations to wall heat transfer and to film cooling distributions. Measurrments of mean temperatures and mean velocities in spanwise planes show that high wall heat transfer regions are associated with regions of high near-wall longitudinal velocity where very little film coolant is present. In addition to high heat transfer regions associated with the vortex downwash, there are also secondary heat transfer peaks. These secondary peaks develop due to shear layer mixing and interaction between the vortex and cooling jets and become higher in magnitude and more persistent with downstream distance as the blowing ratio increases from 0.47 to 1.26.     

Numerical investigation on heat transfer of liquid flow at low Reynolds number in micro-cylinder-groups

Heat transfer of de-ionized water over in-line and staggered micro-cylinder-groups have been numerically investigated with Reynolds number varying in the range from 25 to 150. A 3-D incompressible numerical model is employed to investigate the vortex distributions and the influences of the vortices on heat transfer characteristics at low Re numbers in micro-cylinder-groups with different geometrical parameters, including micro-cylinder diameters (100, 250 and 500?μm), ratios of pitch to micro-cylinder diameter (1.5, 2 and 2.5) and ratios of micro-cylinder height to diameter (0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2). The vortex distributions, the temperature fields, and the relationships among them are investigated by solving the numerical model with the finite volume method. It is found that the vortex number become more with the increase of pitch ratio and the change of flow rate distribution affects the heat transfer characteristics apparently. Meanwhile, the local heat transfer coefficients nearby the locations of vortices greatly increase due to the boundary layer separation, which further enhance the heat transfer in micro-cylinder-groups. The new correlations which to Nusselt number of de-ionized water over micro-cylinders with Re number varying from 25 to 150 have been proposed considering the differential pressure resistance and the buoyancy effect basing on numerical calculations in this paper.     

Effect of cylinder proximity to the wall on channel flow heat transfer enhancement

Heat-transfer enhancement in a uniformly heated slot mini-channel due to vortices shed from an adiabatic circular cylinder is numerically investigated. The effects of gap spacing between the cylinder and bottom wall on wall heat transfer and pressure drop are systemically studied. Numerical simulations are performed at Re=100$\mathit{Re}=100$, 0.1?Pr?10$0.1?\mathrm{Pr}?10$ and a blockage ratio of D/H=1/3$D/H=1/3$. Results within the thermally developing flow region show heat transfer augmentation compared to the plane channel. It was found that when the obstacle is placed in the middle of the duct, maximum heat transfer enhancement from channel walls is achieved. Displacement of circular cylinder towards the bottom wall leads to the suppression of the vortex shedding, the establishment of a steady flow and a reduction of both wall heat transfer and pressure drop. Performance analysis indicates that the proposed heat transfer enhancement mechanism is beneficial for low-Prandtl-number fluids.     

Turbulent heat transfer enhancement by counter/co-swirling flow in a tube fitted with twin twisted tapes

In the present study, the influences of twin-counter/co-twisted tapes (counter/co-swirl tape) on heat transfer rate (Nu), friction factor (f) and thermal enhancement index (η) are experimentally determined. The twin counter twisted tapes (CTs) are used as counter-swirl flow generators while twin co-twisted tapes (CoTs) are used as co-swirl flow generators in a test section. The tests are conducted using the CTs and CoTs with four different twist ratios (y/w = 2.5, 3.0, 3.5 and 4.0) for Reynolds numbers range between 3700 and 21,000 under uniform heat flux conditions. The experiments using the single twisted tape (ST) are also performed under similar operation test conditions, for comparison. The experimental results demonstrate that Nusselt number (Nu), friction factor (f) and thermal enhancement index (η) increase with decreasing twist ratio (y/w). The results also show that the CTs are more efficient than the CoTs for heat transfer enhancement. In the range of the present work, heat transfer rates in the tube fitted with the CTs are around 12.5–44.5% and 17.8–50% higher than those with the CoTs and ST, respectively. The maximum thermal enhancement indices (η) obtained at the constant pumping power by the CTs with y/w = 2.5, 3.0, 3.5 and 4.0, are 1.39, 1.24, 1.12 and 1.03, respectively, while those obtained by using the CoTs with the same range of y/w are 1.1, 1.03, 0.97 and 0.92, respectively. In addition, the empirical correlations of the heat transfer (Nu), friction factor (f) and thermal enhancement index (η) are also reported.     

An experimental study of diabatic spiral vortex flow

In spiral vortex flow, between concentric cylinders with the inner cylinder rotating and the outer stationary, the addition of a thermal gradient across the gap is a known complicating factor. The present diabatic study for narrow and wide gaps (radius ratios N=0.955 and N=0.8), with a heated outer and adiabatic inner cylinder, was undertaken to investigate this problem. The heat transfer characteristics and the modes of transition have been investigated together with the relationship between them. Using standard on-line digital computer techniques, the onset of vortex flow and its higher transitions have been shown to cause a sharp increase in Nusselt number. At higher Taylor numbers, of the order of 10⁶, a marked change in the Nusselt number occurs with the onset of the transition to periodic turbulent vortex flow. Outer wall heating is seen to affect the modes of transition. Diabatic critical Taylor numbers are much higher than those for adiabatic conditions and are found to depend on the close approach of the vortices to the outer wall     

Dynamics of vortical structures in cylinder/wall interaction with moderate gap ratio

The interaction between the wake of a transverse circular cylinder and the underlying flat-plate boundary layer with a moderate gap ratio G/D=1.0 is investigated using both hydrogen-bubble-based and PIV-based visualization techniques. The spanwise rollers in the cylinder wake are found to be capable of inducing secondary vortices in the near-wall region. The mutual induction from the counter-clockwise rollers, which are closer to the wall, plays a primary role, so that these secondary vortices present linear lift-up motion at first. Their subsequent evolution dominantly determines the characteristics of the wake/boundary-layer interaction. Two different vortex interaction scenarios are observed: the secondary vortices can be either entrained into the rollers or pushed down towards the wall. This leads to a rapid three-dimensional destabilization process, through which streamwise vortices are generated. And it is suggested that these streamwise vortices are the dominant structures to promote the following boundary layer transition.     

Turbulence in a skewed three‐dimensional wall‐bounded shear flow: effect of mean vorticity on structure modification

Mean‐flow three‐dimensionalities affect both the turbulence level and the coherent flow structures in wall‐bounded shear flows. A tailor‐made flow configuration was designed to enable a thorough investigation of moderately and severely skewed channel flows. A unidirectional shear‐driven plane Couette flow was skewed by means of an imposed spanwise pressure gradient. Three different cases with 8°, 34°and 52°skewing were simulated numerically and the results compared with data from a purely two‐dimensional plane Couette flow. The resulting three‐dimensional flow field became statistically stationary and homogeneous in the streamwise and spanwise directions while the mean velocity vector V and the mean vorticity vector Ω remained parallel with the walls. Mean flow profiles were presented together with all components of the Reynolds stress tensor. The mean shear rate in the core region gradually increased with increasing skewing whereas the velocity fluctuations were enhanced in the spanwise direction and reduced in the streamwise direction. The Reynolds shear stress is known to be closely related to the coherent flow structures in the near‐wall region. The instantaneous and ensemble‐averaged flow structures were turned by the skewed mean flow. We demonstrated for the medium‐skewed case that the coherent structures should be examined in a coordinate system aligned with V to enable a sound interpretation of 3D effects. The conventional symmetry between Case 1 and Case 2 vortices was broken and Case 1 vortices turned out to be stronger than Case 2. This observation is in conflict with the common understanding on the basis of the spanwise (secondary) mean shear rate. A refined model was proposed to interpret the structure modifications in three‐dimensional wall‐flows. What matters is the orientation of the mean vorticity vector Ω relative to the vortex vorticity vector ω _v, that is, the sign of Ω · ω _v. In the present situation, Ω · ω _v > 0 for the Case 1 vortices causing a strengthening relative to the Case 2 vortices. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Influence of heating load on heat transfer characteristics in micro-pin-fin arrays

Experimental investigations were carried out to explore the convective heat transfer in micro pin-fins with different aspect ratios, and the influence of heating load on Nusselt numbers in micro pin-fins with liquid water as working fluid were investigated. The mechanism of convective heat transfer in micro pin-fins at different heating load were studied by 3-D numerical investigations, and the relationships of thermal physical properties change, the end wall effect and axial thermal conduction with Nu numbers in micro pin-fins were analysed. It was found that the thickness of boundary layer was decreased as much as 33.3 % attributed to the destructive effect of thermal physical properties change, and convective heat transfer in the micro pin-fin channel was more than 20 % enhanced by the flow disturbance caused by the increase of temperature difference. The discrepancy of Nu in micro pin-fin channel with different aspect ratios reached 34.59 %, and this discrepancy was reduced by the increase of heating load. The maximum value of impact factors of dynamic viscosity and thermal conductivity on the Nu in micro-pin-fins reached 25.02 and 7.68 %, respectively.     

Plane jet excited by disturbances with spanwise phase variations

Evolution of the near-field structures of a plane jet excited by temporal periodic disturbances with spanwise phase variations was investigated with stereoscopic particle image velocimetry. The three-dimensional vorticity distributions were reconstructed by using Taylor’s frozen field hypothesis. When ?, the temporal phase difference of disturbances in the spanwise direction was π; chain-link-fence type structures were formed. The $\Uplambda$ vortices in the chain-link-fence structures were then distorted into an $\Upomega$ shape, and the head of the vortex was detached and reconnects to form a vortex ring, or reconnects to the adjacent V-shaped vortices to form an A-shaped vortex. After the reconnection stage, the flow field was occupied by uniformly distributed fine scale eddies. Here, the overall turbulent kinetic energy and shear stress were suppressed, and the jet width was narrower than that of the unexcited case and other forced cases. In the case of ? = π/2, spanwise rollers and rib structures were formed near the nozzle exit after the first vortex pairing. However, further vortex pairing did not occur downstream, and the rate at which the jet widened was reduced.     

Wind Impact on Single Vortices and Counterrotating Vortex Pairs in Ground Proximity

Wall-resolved large eddy simulations are employed to investigate the behaviour of wake vortices and single vortices in ground proximity at a variety of wind conditions. The six considered strengths of wind, ranging between 0.5 and 4 times the initial wake vortex descent speed, w₀, include practically and theoretically significant wind speeds. A crosswind of 0.5 w₀ may lead to windward stall posing a potential hazard to subsequently landing aircraft, whereas theoretical considerations predict that at 4 w₀ the rebound of the luff vortex is completely suppressed. The same range of wind speeds is also used to investigate the effects of headwind and diagonal wind in order to discriminate between effects of environmental turbulence increasing with wind speed and the direction of the wind shear. The study has been complemented by a number of single vortex computations in order to differentiate between effects related to the mutual interaction of the vortex pair and the individual vortices with the turbulent boundary layer flow. It is shown that vortex ascent, descent, rebound and decay characteristics are controlled by (i) the interaction of the vortices with secondary vorticity detaching from the ground, (ii) the redistribution of vorticity of the boundary layer which is altering the path of the primary vortices by mutual velocity induction, and (iii) the interaction of the vortices with the environmental turbulence.     

A numerical study of laminar heat transfer at bottom surface of a cavity submerged in separated flow region of duct

For the two cavity models whose upward and downward wall heights are different from each other, laminar heat transfer is studied numerically in a finite difference method. The effects of cavity configuration, free-stream velocity and buoyancy force on flow and temperature fields as well as heat transfer at the bottom surface are discussed. The flow pattern of DOF (Downward-Facing cavity)-model is more intricated than that of UPF (Upward-Facing cavity)-model, depending on the aspect ratio of cavity or main flow velocity. The mean Nusselt numberNu _m at the bottom surface of both cavity models tends generally to increase with increasing Re_HorGr _w/Re _H ² . However, in the flow region ofRe _H & 500 for DOF-cavity, theNu _m for 0.4 ≦ D₂/D₁ ≦ 0.6 is somewhat lower than that obtained from the other cavities and does not always increase with increasingRe _H.     

Numerical study on the turbulent mixing of planar shock-accelerated triangular heavy gases interface

The interaction of a planar shock wave with a triangle-shaped sulfur hexafluoride (\(\mathrm{SF_6}\)) cylinder surrounded by air is numerically studied using a high resolution finite volume method with minimum dispersion and controllable dissipation reconstruction. The vortex dynamics of the Richtmyer–Meshkov instability and the turbulent mixing induced by the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability are discussed. A modified reconstruction model is proposed to predict the circulation for the shock triangular gas–cylinder interaction flow. Several typical stages leading the shock-driven inhomogeneity flow to turbulent mixing transition are demonstrated. Both the decoupled length scales and the broadened inertial range of the turbulent kinetic energy spectrum in late time manifest the turbulent mixing transition for the present case. The analysis of variable-density energy transfer indicates that the flow structures with high wavenumbers inside the Kelvin–Helmholtz vortices can gain energy from the mean flow in total. Consequently, small scale flow structures are generated therein by means of nonlinear interactions. Furthermore, the occasional “pairing” between a vortex and its neighboring vortex will trigger the merging process of vortices and, finally, create a large turbulent mixing zone.