Experimental and artificial neural network investigation on the effect of inclination angle on the interface temperature of CPU/metal foam heat sink

Purpose This study aims to clarify the relationship between inclination angle of hot surface of CPU and its temperature in absence and presence of aluminum foam as a cooling system. It proposes application of the artificial neural [multi-layer perceptron (MLP) and radial basis function] networks and adaptive neuron-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) to predict interface temperature of central processing unit (CPU)/metal foam heat sink. Design/methodology/approach To provide a consistent set of data, the surface of an aluminum cone with and without installing Duocel aluminum foam was heated in a natural convection using an electrical resistor. The hot surface temperature was measured using five K-type thermocouples (0.1 degrees C). To develop the predictive models, ambient temperature, input power and inclination angle are taken as input which varied from 23 degrees C to 32 degrees C, 4 to 20 W and 0 degrees to 90 degrees, respectively. The hot surface temperature is taken as the output. Findings The results show that in the presence of foam, the hot surface temperature was less sensitive to the variations of angle, and the maximum enhancement of the heat transfer coefficient was 23 per cent at the vertical position. Both MLP network and ANFIS are comparable, but the values predicted by MLP network are in more conformity with the measured values. Originality/value The effect of metal foam on the inclination angle/hot surface temperature dependence is identified. The optimum angle is clarified. The applicability of the MLP networks to predict interface temperature of CPU/heat sink is approved.