Solved with COMSOL Multiphysics 4.0a. COPYRIGHT 2010 COMSOL AB.

Heat Sink
Introduction
This model is intended as a first introduction to simulations of fluid flow and conjugate heat transfer. It is also a very useful model for exploring the modeling procedure in COMSOL Multiphysics. More specifically, it demonstrates the use of three new important concepts: The concept of sequencing. Each operation that you can use to set up a simulation is displayed as a node in the Model Tree. As you proceed with your model, the Model Tree forms a sequence of operations. You can make changes to any of the nodes in the tree and then re-run the sequence of operations to update your model according to the changes in the node settings. The selection of materials in the Materials node. In this node, you can specify and investigate materials and material properties for all the domains and for all physics interfaces in your model. The use of selections . In the Selections node, you can define selections of domains, boundaries, edges, and points, which you can later use in other steps in the modeling procedure.

Model Definition
The modeled system consists of an aluminum heat sink for cooling of components in electronic circuits mounted inside a channel of rectangular cross section; see Figure 1. Such a set-up is used in order to measure the cooling capacity of heat sinks. Air enters the channel at the inlet and exits the channel at the outlet. The base surface of the heat sink is kept at a constant temperature through an external heat source. All other external faces are thermally insulated.

HEAT SINK

Solved with COMSOL Multiphysics 4.0a. COPYRIGHT 2010 COMSOL AB.

inlet

outlet

base surface

Figure 1: The model set-up including channel and heat sink. The cooling capacity of the heat sink can be determined by measuring the power required to keep the base surface of the heat sink at a constant temperature. The model solves a thermal balance for the heat sink and the air flowing in the rectangular channel. Thermal energy is transported through conduction in the aluminum heat sink and through conduction and convection in the cooling air. The temperature field is continuous across the internal surfaces between the heat sink and the air in the channel. The temperature is set at the inlet of the channel and at the base of the heat sink. Alternatively, you can also simulate the presence of a layer of adhesive material between the heat sink and the heating device used to keep a constant temperature. In such case, you have to define a heat transfer coefficient for the adhesive layer and then set the temperature at the heater side of the layer. The transport of thermal energy at the outlet is dominated by convection. The flow field is obtained by solving one momentum balance for each space coordinate (x, y, and z) and a mass balance. The inlet velocity is defined by a parabolic velocity profile for fully developed laminar flow. At the outlet, a constant pressure is combined the assumption that there are no viscous stresses in the direction perpendicular to the outlet. At all solid surfaces, the velocity is set to zero in all three spatial directions.

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HEAT SINK

Solved with COMSOL Multiphysics 4.0a. COPYRIGHT 2010 COMSOL AB.

The thermal conductivity of aluminum, the thermal conductivity of air, the heat capacity of air, and the air density are all temperature-dependent material properties. You can find all of the settings mentioned above in the physics interface for Conjugate Heat Transfer in COMSOL Multiphysics. You also find the material properties, including their temperature dependence, in the Material Browser

Results
As Figure 2 shows, the heat sink reaches a maximum temperature of roughly 393 K. The hot wake behind the heat sink visible in the plot is a sign of the convective cooling effects.

Figure 2: The surface plot visualizes the temperature field on the channel walls and the heat sink surface, while the arrow plot shows the flow velocity field around the heat sink.

Model Library path: Heat_Transfer_Module/Tutorial_Models/heat_sink

HEAT SINK

Solved with COMSOL Multiphysics 4.0a. COPYRIGHT 2010 COMSOL AB.

Modeling Instructions
MODEL WIZARD

1 Go to the Model Wizard window. 2 Click Next. 3 In the Add Physics tree, select Heat Transfer>Conjugate Heat Transfer>Laminar Flow (nitf). 4 Click Next. 5 In the Studies tree, select Preset Studies>Stationary. 6 Click Finish.
GLOBAL DEFINITIONS

Parameters
1 In the Model Builder window, right-click Global Definitions and choose Parameters.

Define some parameters that you can use when specifying the channel dimensions.
2 Go to the Settings window for Parameters. 3 Locate the Parameters section. In the Parameters table, enter the following settings:
NAME EXPRESSION DESCRIPTION

L_channel W_channel H_channel U0 GEOMETRY 1

7[cm] 3[cm] 1.5[cm] 5[cm/s]

Channel length Channel width Channel height Mean inlet velocity

Import 1
1 In the Model Builder window, right-click Model 1>Geometry 1 and choose Import. 2 Go to the Settings window for Import. 3 Locate the Import section. Click the Browse button. 4 Browse to the models Model Library folder and double-click the file
heat_sink_n19.mphbin.

5 Click the Build Selected button.

Work Plane 1
In the Model Builder window, right-click Geometry 1 and choose Work Plane.

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HEAT SINK

Solved with COMSOL Multiphysics 4.0a. COPYRIGHT 2010 COMSOL AB.

Rectangle 1
1 In the Model Builder window, right-click Work Plane 1>Geometry and choose Rectangle. 2 Go to the Settings window for Rectangle. 3 Locate the Size section. In the Width edit field, type L_channel. 4 In the Height edit field, type W_channel. 5 Locate the Position section. In the x edit field, type -4.5e-2. 6 In the y edit field, type -W_channel/2. 7 Click the Build Selected button.

Extrude 1
1 In the Model Builder window, right-click Work Plane 1 and choose Extrude. 2 Right-click Extrude 1 and choose Go to Default 3D View. 3 Go to the Settings window for Extrude. 4 Locate the Distances from Work Plane section. In the table, enter the following

settings:
DISTANCES (M)

H_channel

5 Click the Build Selected button.

MATERIALS

1 In the Model Builder window, right-click Model 1>Materials and choose Open Material Browser. 2 Go to the Material Browser window. 3 Locate the Materials section. In the Materials tree, select Built-In>Air. 4 Right-click and choose Add Material to Model from the menu.

Air
By default, the first material you add applies to all domains. Typically, you can leave this setting and add other materials that override the default material where applicable. In this example, specify aluminum for Domain 2:
1 In the Model Builder window, right-click Materials and choose Open Material Browser. 2 Go to the Material Browser window.

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Solved with COMSOL Multiphysics 4.0a. COPYRIGHT 2010 COMSOL AB.

3 Locate the Materials section. In the Materials tree, select Built-In>Aluminum 3003-H18. 4 Right-click and choose Add Material to Model from the menu.

Aluminum 3003-H18
1 In the Model Builder window, click Aluminum 3003-H18. 2 Select Domain 2 only.
C O N J U G A T E H E A T TR A N S F E R

Fluid 1
1 In the Model Builder window, right-click Model 1>Conjugate Heat Transfer and choose Fluid. 2 Select Domain 1 only.

Inlet 1
1 In the Model Builder window, right-click Conjugate Heat Transfer and choose Laminar Flow>Inlet. 2 Select Boundary 115 only. 3 Go to the Settings window for Inlet. 4 Locate the Boundary Condition section. From the Boundary condition list, select Laminar inflow. 5 In the Uav edit field, type U0.

Outlet 1
1 In the Model Builder window, right-click Conjugate Heat Transfer and choose Laminar Flow>Outlet. 2 Select Boundary 1 only.

Temperature 1
1 In the Model Builder window, right-click Conjugate Heat Transfer and choose Heat Transfer>Temperature. 2 Select Boundary 115 only.

The default temperature, corresponding to 20 degrees Celsius or 68 degrees Fahrenheit, applies at the inlet.

Temperature 2
1 In the Model Builder window, right-click Conjugate Heat Transfer and choose Heat Transfer>Temperature.

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HEAT SINK

Solved with COMSOL Multiphysics 4.0a. COPYRIGHT 2010 COMSOL AB.

2 Select Boundary 8 only. 3 Go to the Settings window for Temperature. 4 Locate the Temperature section. In the T0 edit field, type 393.15[K].

This value corresponds to 120 degrees Celsius or 248 degrees Fahrenheit.

Outflow 1
1 In the Model Builder window, right-click Conjugate Heat Transfer and choose Heat Transfer>Outflow. 2 Select Boundary 1 only.
MESH 1

Free Tetrahedral 1
In the Model Builder window, right-click Model 1>Mesh 1 and choose Free Tetrahedral.

Size 1
1 In the Model Builder window, right-click Mesh 1>Free Tetrahedral 1 and choose Size. 2 Go to the Settings window for Size. 3 Locate the Geometric Scope section. From the Geometric entity level list, select Domain. 4 Select Domain 1 only. 5 Locate the Element Size section. From the Predefined list, select Finer. 6 Click the Build All button.
STUDY 1

In the Model Builder window, right-click Study 1 and choose Compute.

DEFINITIONS

Create a selection to use for defining a data set in the Results branch.

Selection 1
1 In the Model Builder window, right-click Model 1>Definitions and choose Selection. 2 Go to the Settings window for Selection. 3 Locate the Geometric Scope section. From the Geometric entity level list, select Boundary. 4 Right-click Selection 1 and choose Rename. 5 Go to the Rename Selection dialog box and type walls in the New name edit field.

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Solved with COMSOL Multiphysics 4.0a. COPYRIGHT 2010 COMSOL AB.

6 Click OK. 7 Right-click Selection 1 and choose Select Box. 8 Select Boundaries 3 and 5114 only.
RESULTS

Follow the steps below to reproduce the plot in Figure 2.

Data Sets
1 In the Model Builder window, right-click Results>Data Sets>Solution 1 and choose Add Selection. 2 Go to the Settings window for Selection. 3 Locate the Geometric Scope section. From the Geometric entity level list, select Boundary. 4 From the Selection list, select walls.

3D Plot Group 1
1 In the Model Builder window, click Surface 1. 2 Go to the Settings window for Surface. 3 Locate the Coloring and Style section. From the Color table list, select Thermal. 4 In the Model Builder window, right-click 3D Plot Group 1 and choose Arrow Volume. 5 Go to the Settings window for Arrow Volume. 6 In the upper-right corner of the Expression section, click Replace Expression. 7 From the menu, choose Conjugate Heat Transfer (Laminar Flow)>Velocity field (u, v, w). 8 Locate the Arrow Positioning section. Find the x grid points subsection. In the Points

edit field, type 40.

9 Find the y grid points subsection. In the Points edit field, type 20. 10 Find the z grid points subsection. From the Entry method list, select Coordinates. 11 In the Coordinates edit field, type 5e-3. 12 Right-click Arrow Volume 1 and choose Color Expression. 13 Go to the Settings window for Color Expression. 14 In the upper-right corner of the Expression section, click Replace Expression. 15 From the menu, choose Conjugate Heat Transfer (Laminar Flow)>Velocity magnitude (nitf.U). 16 Click the Plot button.

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