Constructal design of reverting microchannels for convective cooling of a circular disc

Within the platform of constructal theory, this study documents a new configuration for convective cooling of a circular disc using radial and dendritic microchannels. The computed results showed that considering fluid collection in the designs is beneficial. Also, the usage of reverting microchannels led to a superior thermal performance of the disc architectures. With radial designs, the heat transfer rate was enhanced at the expense of a higher pressure drop. Also, the contribution of the cross section shape in radial designs was investigated by varying its height. It was observed that a reduction in height resulted in a decrement in thermal resistance, but the pressure drop would increase because of the departure from the square shape cross section. Optimal shape of dendritic designs was predicted by letting the geometry morph in certain directions. We also took into consideration the role of svelteness as well as the slenderness of each channel in dendritic designs. (C) 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.