Influence of inlet/outlet arrangement on flow boiling of a parallel strip fin heat sink

Abstract This paper experimentally investigates a parallel strip fin heat sink (PSFHS) with various types of inlet/outlet arrangements (IOAs) including I-type, L-type, and U-type. The heat sink contains 150 fins 1mm wide and 5.5mm high on a square in-line configuration with a 1mm pitch. Nine thermocouples are placed inside the base plate of the heat sink to map the temperature distribution in it. Because of the difference in IOAs, the resultant temperature distributions are different. The corresponding boiling curves and flow pattern are discussed in detail. In addition, the two-phase thermal resistance and temperature uniformity are utilized to evaluate the thermal performance of the heat sink. The experiment results show that the inlet/outlet arrangements have a significant influence on local dry out and temperature distribution, both of which are also affected by the discontinuous passage configuration. It is found that L-type PSFHS has relatively small thermal resistance with a moderated temperature uniformity, and I-type PSFHS has the worst performance in temperature distribution.