Numerical computation of roughness effects on heat transfer and hydrodynamic characteristics in microchannels

Abstract

In the present paper we focus our attention on the analysis of surface roughness effects. In the process of numerical simulation, a finite-volume method was used to solve the three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations and energy equation. In turbulent region, wall-function was used to solve the temperature and velocity of coolant in the area near the wall. In all computational regions, the fluid-solid Conjugate heat transfer is used to solve the microchannel heat transfer problems. In conclusion the effect of surface roughness on heat transfer and pressure drop can not be neglected. And one should be very careful in ascribing the roughness effect to the discrepancies between experimental heat transfer and the prediction for standard macro scale channels. Copyright © 2006 by ASME.