Numerical Simulation of Fluid Flow and Heat Transfer in U-Shaped Microchannels

Abstract The numerical simulation of transport in complex microchannel systems for thermal management is considered, focusing on U-shaped microchannels. The simulation is carried out in conjunction with an experimental study. A physical system for fluid flow in U-shaped microchannels with heat generation at the bottom has been set up. This system approximates the use of microchannel flow for heat removal from electronic devices. Different numerical models are considered for system modeling and simulation. By comparing the results from these models and the obtained experimental data, it is found that the two channel model, which employs two channels with periodic boundary conditions, is the optimal model to simulate the overall heat transfer performance. Thus, the focus of the study is on the use of combined experimentation and numerical simulation for an accurate and realistic modeling of such complex microchannel systems, without excessive computations needed for simulating each microchannel of the system. Notes Color versions of one or more of the figures in the article can be found online at www.tandfonline.com/unht.