3-DIMENSIONAL LAMINAR AND TURBULENT NATURAL-CONVECTION COOLING OF HEATED BLOCKS

Results are presented for three-dimensional laminar and standard K-epsilon turbulent numerical simulations of natural convection cooling of 10 cubic aluminum blocks mounted on an insulated plate, facing a shrouding wall. This geometry is chosen so that comparison with experimental results is possible. The problem considered is of great practical importance because it simulates the case of heated electronic chips, mounted on printed board assemblies, which are frequently encountered in electronic industry applications. The problem is mathematically modeled by the three-dimensional conservation differential equations of mass, momentum, energy and turbulent kinetic energy, and dissipation (for the turbulent flow model). These equations are solved numerically by a finite volume method, and the laminar and turbulent results are compared with the experimental results obtained with similar parameters.