A parametric study on structural effects of hollow hybrid fin heat sinks in natural convection and radiation

This study investigates structural effects of hollow hybrid fin heat sinks (HHFHSs) under natural convection and radiation conducting parametric analysis. The HHFHS is a staggered array of hollow hybrid fins (HHFs) denoting hollow pin fins containing perforations near fin bases and integrated with radially-placed plate fins. CFD thermal models validated by measurements were utilized to explore structural effects of the HHFHS such as the fin spacing; number, width, and length of the radial plate fin; and the number of perforations. It is found that the surface area enhancement of the radial plate fin considerably improves the thermal performance of the HHFHS although it modestly deteriorates the mass-based performance. It is seen that the HHF spacing has stronger influence on the radiation heat transfer rate compared with other parameters. The result shows that the perforations enable internal channel flows resulting in an additional heat transfer enhancement.