Experimental and Numerical Investigation of The Effect of Hydrogel use on the Performance of a New Fractal Mini-Channel Heat Sinks

Year 2025, Volume: 2 Issue: 2, 49 - 61, 22.01.2026

Sinan Çalışkan , Hümeyra Balaban , Ahmet Doğukan Köseoğlu

Abstract

Overheating due to the high thermal characteristics of electronic chip products leads to failure and inefficient work. Fractal-shaped water-cooled mini-channels are an innovative geometry used for cooling heat sinks. In the literature, heat distributions in fractal-structured geometries have been investigated by many researchers, both experimentally and numerically. Many researchers have investigated heat distribution in fractal-structured mini-channels, and most of these studies have focused on the overall heat distribution of heat sinks, while only a few have conducted numerical studies on local heat distribution. It is very important to know the local heat distribution in order to provide better performance of the heat sinks. In this study, the thermal effects of conventional Y-shaped mini channels (Y-MC) and temperature-sensitive hydrogel-added Y-shaped mini channels (Y-MCH) were investigated experimentally and numerically. As a result of both experimental and numerical studies, after determining the local temperature zones, it was aimed to obtain a homogeneous heat distribution on the surface by placing temperature-sensitive hydrogel in those zones. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD-FloEFD) software was used in the numerical studies. Poly (N-isopropyl acrylamide) hydrogels have been used as a type of temperature-responsive materials that undergo discontinuous deformation with temperature changes and exhibit rapid response performance. Additionally, low temperature regions were created on the fractal geometry surface by increasing the heat transfer area in the hydrogel-added channel.

Keywords

New Y-shaped fractal mini-channel , hydrogel , thermal camera , CFD- FloEFD

Ethical Statement

There is no ethical problem.

Supporting Institution

TÜBİTAK 1001-Scientific and Technological Research Projects and Hitit University Scientific Research

Project Number

TÜBİTAK 1001-Scientific and Technological Research Projects project number 123M059 and Hitit University Scientific Research project number MUHMİTEK19001.23.003

Thanks

We would like to thank the TÜBİTAK 1001-Scientific and Technological Research Projects Support Program for their support of this study under project number 123M059 and the Hitit University Scientific Research Projects Coordinatorship under project number MUHMİTEK19001.23.003

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