oa Application Of 3d Printing To Develop A Nature Inspired Mini Heat Sink For Electronic Cooling

Power consumption and energy density, energy consumption per unit volume, for power consuming devices has sharply increased in the last 50 years. Moreover, further advances and miniaturization of electronic components have led to increased energy density in the electronic equipment that necessitates better cooling strategies of these systems. As computers became larger and more complex, cooling of the active components becomes a critical factor for reliable operation and can consume a large portion of the total power consumption of the system. Furthermore, data centers use about %2 of the world's electricity supply, with nearly half of this amount dedicated for cooling of the computing equipment. One of the biggest and most expensive challenges for these centers, and a larger environmental concern, has become these cooling equipment. In spite of manufacturing and handling difficulties, liquid cooling of electronic components seems to offer a solution for this problem. An important part of such solution is to design a compact cooling channel system that offers a uniform temperature distribution for the cooled part. Constructal theory is inspired by fluid flow in nature (river basins, human veins, and fluid transportation in plants) for fluid based cooling systems. On the other hand, new advancements in 3D printing technology has brought the possibility of building complicated systems that more closely mimics nature. This work investigates the application of constructal theory for the design of a compact double sided cooling pad for such applications to be built using advanced 3D printing technology. Fluid enters the two networks, on the top and bottom of the pad, via a single inlet inside a separating layer between them. The heated fluid is then collected at the periphery of the channel network. An exit port is then attached to a collection well for the exit flow. Numerical method is used to redesign flow passage dimensions inside the heat sink and optimize fluid outlet layout to ensure uniform heat removal and temperature distribution in the pad. A sample model of the actual device is built; using advanced 3D printing technology, for flow study. Flow pattern, temperature distribution, and the resulted pressure drop for the designed heat sink are presented for different flow rates. This work started as undergraduate research that became partially funded by UREP 15 - 063 - 2 - 021.