Numerical investigation of cooling enhancement in double-layer fractal-like microchannel disk heat sinks via layer shifting and tertiary channels

An effective approach for reducing the required pumping power in microchannel-embedded heat sinks is the use of fractal-like flow patterns. Additionally, incorporating double-layer microchannels significantly lowers pressure drop and improves thermal performance by reducing the maximum surface tempe...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hosein Akhtari, Ardalan Shafiei Ghazani
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-09-01
Series:Results in Engineering
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590123025019656
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1839648778719592448
author Hosein Akhtari
Ardalan Shafiei Ghazani
author_facet Hosein Akhtari
Ardalan Shafiei Ghazani
author_sort Hosein Akhtari
collection DOAJ
description An effective approach for reducing the required pumping power in microchannel-embedded heat sinks is the use of fractal-like flow patterns. Additionally, incorporating double-layer microchannels significantly lowers pressure drop and improves thermal performance by reducing the maximum surface temperature. In this study, two design modifications are proposed for a four-level, double-layer fractal microchannel embedded in a disk-shaped heat sink: (1) angular shifting of the second layer relative to the first, and (2) the addition of tertiary microchannels in the second layer. The thermal and hydrodynamic performance of these enhanced designs is numerically evaluated and compared with single-layer and standard double-layer configurations under heat fluxes of 40, 60, and 80 W/cm² and inlet flow rates from 300 to 600 ml/min. While double layering effectively reduces pressure drop by redistributing the coolant flow, integrating tertiary microchannels leads to an additional ∼1.5 % drop due to reduced velocity and wall shear stress. The design combining angular shift and tertiary microchannels achieves the best thermal performance reducing the maximum temperature by up to 11.8 °C compared to the single-layer and up to 3.0 °C relative to the standard double-layer under high heat flux. It also improves temperature uniformity by 16.5 %, compared to 9.8 % for the simple double-layer. Angular shifting alone offers a modest reduction in thermal resistance; however, its combination with tertiary channels delivers substantial gains, significantly lowering thermal resistance. This proposed configuration provides a promising solution for compact and high-performance electronic cooling applications.
format Article
id doaj-art-db00e00c063540d49e65c40406d63ef2
institution Matheson Library
issn 2590-1230
language English
publishDate 2025-09-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series Results in Engineering
spelling doaj-art-db00e00c063540d49e65c40406d63ef22025-06-28T05:30:56ZengElsevierResults in Engineering2590-12302025-09-0127105894Numerical investigation of cooling enhancement in double-layer fractal-like microchannel disk heat sinks via layer shifting and tertiary channelsHosein Akhtari0Ardalan Shafiei Ghazani1Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sahand University of Technology, Tabriz, IranCorresponding author.; Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sahand University of Technology, Tabriz, IranAn effective approach for reducing the required pumping power in microchannel-embedded heat sinks is the use of fractal-like flow patterns. Additionally, incorporating double-layer microchannels significantly lowers pressure drop and improves thermal performance by reducing the maximum surface temperature. In this study, two design modifications are proposed for a four-level, double-layer fractal microchannel embedded in a disk-shaped heat sink: (1) angular shifting of the second layer relative to the first, and (2) the addition of tertiary microchannels in the second layer. The thermal and hydrodynamic performance of these enhanced designs is numerically evaluated and compared with single-layer and standard double-layer configurations under heat fluxes of 40, 60, and 80 W/cm² and inlet flow rates from 300 to 600 ml/min. While double layering effectively reduces pressure drop by redistributing the coolant flow, integrating tertiary microchannels leads to an additional ∼1.5 % drop due to reduced velocity and wall shear stress. The design combining angular shift and tertiary microchannels achieves the best thermal performance reducing the maximum temperature by up to 11.8 °C compared to the single-layer and up to 3.0 °C relative to the standard double-layer under high heat flux. It also improves temperature uniformity by 16.5 %, compared to 9.8 % for the simple double-layer. Angular shifting alone offers a modest reduction in thermal resistance; however, its combination with tertiary channels delivers substantial gains, significantly lowering thermal resistance. This proposed configuration provides a promising solution for compact and high-performance electronic cooling applications.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590123025019656Disk heat sinkFractal-like micro-channelsDouble-layer heat sink designThermal managementComputational fluid dynamics
spellingShingle Hosein Akhtari
Ardalan Shafiei Ghazani
Numerical investigation of cooling enhancement in double-layer fractal-like microchannel disk heat sinks via layer shifting and tertiary channels
Results in Engineering
Disk heat sink
Fractal-like micro-channels
Double-layer heat sink design
Thermal management
Computational fluid dynamics
title Numerical investigation of cooling enhancement in double-layer fractal-like microchannel disk heat sinks via layer shifting and tertiary channels
title_full Numerical investigation of cooling enhancement in double-layer fractal-like microchannel disk heat sinks via layer shifting and tertiary channels
title_fullStr Numerical investigation of cooling enhancement in double-layer fractal-like microchannel disk heat sinks via layer shifting and tertiary channels
title_full_unstemmed Numerical investigation of cooling enhancement in double-layer fractal-like microchannel disk heat sinks via layer shifting and tertiary channels
title_short Numerical investigation of cooling enhancement in double-layer fractal-like microchannel disk heat sinks via layer shifting and tertiary channels
title_sort numerical investigation of cooling enhancement in double layer fractal like microchannel disk heat sinks via layer shifting and tertiary channels
topic Disk heat sink
Fractal-like micro-channels
Double-layer heat sink design
Thermal management
Computational fluid dynamics
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590123025019656
work_keys_str_mv AT hoseinakhtari numericalinvestigationofcoolingenhancementindoublelayerfractallikemicrochanneldiskheatsinksvialayershiftingandtertiarychannels
AT ardalanshafieighazani numericalinvestigationofcoolingenhancementindoublelayerfractallikemicrochanneldiskheatsinksvialayershiftingandtertiarychannels