Open Access

ARTICLE

Experimental and Numerical Study on Flow and Heat Transfer Characteristics in Rectangular Channels with Leaf-Shaped Pin Fins

Chao Zhang¹, Runze Yan¹, Honghui Li¹, Qingheng Tang¹, Qinghai Zhao^1,2,*

1 College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Qingdao University, Qingdao, 266071, China
2 National Engineering Research Center for Intelligent Electrical Vehicle Power System, Qingdao, 266071, China

* Corresponding Author: Qinghai Zhao. Email:

Frontiers in Heat and Mass Transfer 2025, 23(2), 421-440. https://doi.org/10.32604/fhmt.2025.061469

Received 25 November 2024; Accepted 30 December 2024; Issue published 25 April 2025

Abstract

The growing need for enhanced heat dissipation is compelling the development of more effective heat exchangers. Innovation inspired by nature bionics, four types of leaf-shaped pin fins were proposed and four combinations of them were considered. The leaf-shaped design of the cooling pin fin enhances uniformity and synergy, effectively creating an optimized flow path that boosts cooling performance. Eight three-dimensional conjugate heat transfer models in staggered arrangement were developed using ANSYS-Fluent software. Aluminum 6061 material was used as the heat sink material and single-phase liquid water flowed through the rectangular channel where the Reynolds (Re) number varies from 40 to 100. Using the same boundary conditions as the software simulations, two leaf-shaped channels were printed to validate numerical models. Velocity field and temperature differences of the eight proposed leaf-shaped pin fins configurations were discussed by comparison with cylindrical pin fins. Based on the findings of this study, at a Reynolds number of 80, the Leaf B Staggered Array (LBSA) records a maximum temperature that is 0.72 K lower than that of the cylindrical pin fins arrangement. Additionally, the LBSA exhibits a reduction in the friction factor by approximately 33.3% relative to the circular pin fins array under the same Re. This implies that the design of LBSA has been optimized to provide better heat dissipation performance while maintaining lower energy consumption. Furthermore, the LBSA demonstrates the most favorable thermal-hydraulic performance index (TPI), which is 1.18 times higher than that of the circular pin fins arrangement at Re = 80. The temperature reduction and friction factor reduction of the lobed channel is more pronounced than that of the conventional cooling channel, highlighting its potential to increase heat transfer efficiency and reduce energy consumption in practical applications.

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Keywords

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