Thermal analysis of cylindrical heat sinks filled with phase change material for high-power transient cooling

• Published in: International journal of heat and mass transfer Vol. 154; p. 119725
• Main Authors: Jeong, Ju-Ho, Hah, Seungryong, Kim, Deokjoo, Lee, Jin Hyun, Kim, Sung-Min
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01-06-2020; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Aluminum; Computer simulation; Cooling; Dimensional analysis; Eelectronics cooling; Fluid flow; Heat flux; Heat sinks; Holes; Melt fraction; Melting; Numerical models; Nusselt number; Phase change material (PCM); Phase change materials; Thermal analysis; Thermal energy; Thermal management; Thermodynamic properties; Two dimensional models; Unit cell; Phase change material (PCM); Thermal management; Melting; Nusselt number; Eelectronics cooling; Melt fraction
• ISSN: 0017-9310; 1879-2189
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2020.119725

•Thermal performance of cylindrical heat sinks filled with PCM is investigated.•Influence of various geometrical and thermal parameters on PCM melting process is examined.•Dimensional analysis generalizes the PCM melt fraction and corresponding Nusselt number.•New correlations for predicting the PCM melt fraction and Nusselt number are proposed.
In this study, the thermal performance of cylindrical heat sinks filled with phase change material (PCM) is investigated for high-power transient cooling. Herein, n-eicosane present in heat sink cavities is used as the PCM, whereas aluminum is used as the heat sink material. For the PCM-based cylindrical heat sink, a two-dimensional numerical model is constructed to determine the influence of various geometrical and thermal parameters, such as fin height, cavity angle, fin angle, base thickness, and power level, on the PCM melting process. All parametric simulations were performed using the heat sink unit cell by exploiting the symmetry. Results show that the PCM melting time can be increased by increasing the amount of PCM filling the cavity and increasing the mass of the heat sink material. Furthermore, dimensional analysis generalizes the obtained numerical results. The PCM melt fraction and corresponding Nusselt number are generalized in terms of a combination of the Fourier, Stefan, and Rayleigh numbers by introducing the effective heat flux to account for three-sided wall heating for the cylindrical heat sink. New correlations for predicting the PCM melt fraction and Nusselt number during the PCM melting process in cylindrical heat sinks are proposed as a function of the combination of dimensionless groups.