Experimental Investigation of Cooling Plates with Different Channel Structures

Current research on the performance of liquid cooling plates has predominantly emphasized the simulation method for a single flow channel structure. Consequently, systematic analysis of different flow channel structures based on experimental data remains limited. This study investigated the cooling characteristics of plates with six different channel structures, providing some experimental data references for related applications and studies. By comparing the consistency between the simulation results and the experimental data, the comparative experiment verified the reliability of the experimental process. Then, range analysis was used in the orthogonal test to reveal the variation patterns of three general performance metrics: maximum temperature of the heat source, temperature difference, and pressure drop under the combined influence of the cooling plate channel structure, thermal load, and flow rate. Furthermore, a comprehensive cooling performance metric was constructed using the entropy weight method and the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) to evaluate the integrated cooling performance of different channel structures. The results demonstrate significant differences in the cooling performance between channel structures, with the grid-type channel exhibiting the best performance. Furthermore, a faster flow rate reduces the duration and efficiency of heat transfer, recommending an optimal flow rate of approximately 6 L/min under similar thermal conditions.