Advanced thermal management of high-power density devices: Helicoidally finned micro-pillars in microchannel heat sinks

Effective thermal management is crucial for the performance of micro-electronic components, with an emphasis on enhancing temperature distribution. This study introduces a novel configuration of micro-structures embedded into MCHS, numerically analyzed over a broad range of Reynolds numbers [184-842]. A parametric study was conducted to evaluate three key structural parameters: the number of revolutions ( ; ranging from to ), the fin length ( ; ranging from to pillar’s diameter), and the fin width ( ; ranging from to fin length). Comparing traditional micro-pillars to Helicoidally-Finned micro-pillars, in terms of velocity and temperature distribution, highlights the significance of spanwise secondary flow in enhancing convective heat transfer and temperature uniformity increased by in comparison to P-microstructures. Enhancement in terms of reached up-to -fold. Optimal configuration was found for HFP-microstructures with revolution counts, normalized fin length of , normalized fin width of at Reynolds number, offering -fold enhancement in Nusselt number ( ), a and enhancement in Performance Enhancement Criterion ( ), respectively in comparison to conventional MCHS and micro-pillars MCHS. Integration of Helicoidally Finned micro-Pillars into MCHS resulted in minimizing entropy generation ( ) and thus yielding improved thermohydraulic and thermodynamic performance. • CFD analysis focused on thermal and thermodynamic performance of HFP-MCHS. • Spanwise Secondary Flow generated by Helicoidally-Finned-Pillar micro-structures. • HFPs enhances fluid mixing, leading to a more uniform temperature distribution. • Effect of HFP structural parameters on the cooling performance of an MCHS.