Heat Transfer Enhancement by Finned Heat Sinks with Micro-structured Roughness

Abstract

We investigated the benefits of micro-structured roughness on heat transfer performance of heat sinks, cooled by forced air.Heat sinks in aluminum alloy by direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) manufacturing technique were fabricated; values of the average surface roughness from 1 to 25 microns (standard milling leads to roughness around 1 micron) under turbulent regimes (Reynolds number based on heating edge from 3000 to 17000) have been explored.An enhancement of 50% in thermal performances with regards to standard manufacturing was observed.This may open the way for huge boost in the technology of electronic cooling by DMLS.