Thermal Performance Analysis of Microchannel Heat Sinks with Varied Wavy Structure Amplitude for Electronics Cooling

The increasing heat flux in high-performance electronic devices demands efficient thermal management solutions. This study investigates the thermal performance of microchannel heat sinks (MCHS) with wavy channel geometries, emphasizing the role of wave amplitude in enhancing heat transfer. Three wave amplitudes—20 µm, 40 µm, and 60 µm—are evaluated using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations to assess their impact on heat transfer and pressure drop. Iron (III) Oxide (Fe3O4) nanofluid is employed as the working fluid due to its superior thermal conductivity, while copper is used as the heat sink material for effective heat dissipation. The results show that increasing wave amplitude improves fluid mixing and disrupts thermal boundary layers, significantly enhancing heat transfer. However, higher amplitudes may also increase flow resistance. Among the tested configurations, the 40 µm amplitude achieves the best thermal performance by providing an optimal balance between heat transfer enhancement and pressure drop. This study highlights the critical influence of wave amplitude in wavy MCHS design and demonstrates the effectiveness of combining nanofluids with optimized geometries to develop compact and efficient cooling solutions for advanced electronics such as 5G devices, power modules, and MEMS.