Improving the Cooling Performance of a Microchannel Containing Nanofluid Using Interrupted Fins

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Kashan, Kashan, Iran

Abstract

A numerical simulation of hybrid nanofluid flow in five microchannel heat sink geometries with interrupted fins was carried out, and the results were compared with a simple geometry. The simulations were performed using the finite volume method and the SIMPLE algorithm in ANSYS Fluent for laminar, steady, and incompressible flow at Reynolds numbers ranging from 100 to 600 and nanoparticle volume fractions of 0, 0.01, and 0.02. Various parameters were calculated and analyzed for different cases. The highest pressure drop occurred in the geometry with triangular interrupted fins at a Re=600 for the base fluid, which was 9.3 times higher than that of the simple geometry. The maximum enhancement in the Nusselt number, about 49.4%, was also observed in this geometry. The order of geometries in terms of thermal resistance was as follows: simple geometry, square fins, hexagonal fins, circular fins, rhombic fins, and triangular fins, indicating the role of fins in reducing thermal resistance. After identifying the optimal geometry, the effects of fin arrangement and height were investigated, and the best performance was obtained for triangular fins with a height of 0.06 mm, a nanoparticle volume fraction of 0.02, and a Reynolds number of 600, achieving a performance evaluation criterion of approximately 1.8. These results confirm the importance of geometric design and optimal fin height selection in enhancing the thermo-hydrodynamic performance of microchannels.

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References

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Amirkabir Journal of Mechanical Engineering
Volume 57, Issue 7
October 2025
Pages 817-844

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