Numerical Investigation into Heat Transfer Augmentation in a Square Minichannel Heat Sink Using Butterfly Inserts

Heat transfer augmentation in a square minichannel heat sink through introduction of various butterfly insert configurations is numerically investigated for a range of Reynolds numbers (200–900). The present study also examines the individual effects of insert, pitch of the insert, and perforations in the wings of the butterfly insert on the thermohydraulic performance of minichannel heat sinks. Incorporating any kind of insert in a typical square minichannel is found to have a positive influence on the overall thermohydraulic performance, yielding performance evaluation criteria consistently over unity for the whole range of tested Reynolds numbers. The effect of pitch is tested for unperforated inserts, wherein a reduction of pitch distance from 10mm to 5mm is found to increase heat transfer performance by 15.08–46.39% for the studied range of Reynolds numbers. Perforations in the wings of butterfly inserts are found to result in a reduction of friction factor, with a 4.01–20.78% decrease, when compared with an unperforated insert having an identical pitch. However, this reduction is achieved at the cost of a lower heat transfer performance (5.07–16.17%). Therefore, unperforated butterfly inserts are deemed to be superior in terms of the overall thermohydraulic enhancement. In all enhanced minichannel configurations, a redistribution of velocity and temperature fields due to the formation of a primary vortex pair and thinning of thermal boundary layers due to a second pair of secondary vortices are thought to be the major contributors behind the observed thermohydraulic enhancement.