Thermohydraulic performance comparison of 3D printed circuit heatsinks with conventional integral fin heatsinks

Additive manufacturing has enabled the fabrication of intricate geometries and structures of numerous sizes at high accuracy, which has attracted researchers towards its application as 3D-printed heatsinks. In this context, current work is focused on exploring the potential of periodic lattices of cellular materials as heat sinks and their comparison with conventional thermal management systems. Thermohydraulic characteristics of the heatsinks with channel designs of cellular structures, namely, simple cubic and body-centered cubic, are evaluated and compared with the performance of conventional heatsinks with integral fins. The heatsinks' conjugate heat transfer and flow are solved numerically, employing a validated model built on 3D Reynolds averaged Navier Stokes with the Shear Stress Turbulence model. Water and critical CO₂ are used as coolants in this study. Results show that the SC design performs best compared to the classic finned design with an overall performance evaluation criterion of around 4.45 times higher at a flow rate of 1.5 L/min using water as a coolant. In addition, body-centered cubic lattice performs with a PEC of 4.33 at the same flow rate and working fluid. The computed results demonstrate that the performance of 3D-printed heatsinks geometries is significantly superior to the classic designs making them an ideal candidate for designing further compact and efficient heat removal systems for electronic devices.