Title: An experimental investigation and optimisation of flat plate heat sink

Authors: S. Manivannan; R. Arumugam; S. Prasanna Devi; N.M. Sudharsan; S. Paramasivam

Addresses: Department of Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering, Dr. MGR Educational and Research Institute University, Chennai – 600095, India. ' Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, SSN College of Engineering, Kalavakkam – 602105, India. ' Department of Computer Science Engineering, Apollo Engineering College, Chennai – 602105, India. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Rajalakshmi Engineering College, Chennai 602105, India. ' ESAB, Chennai 600058, India

Abstract: This study is focused on multiple response optimisation of a flat plate heat sink using grey relational analysis and Taguchi design of experiments. The responses considered are electromagnetic emitted radiation and thermal resistance of the heat sink. The emitted radiation and thermal resistance of the heat sink were obtained using Ansoft HFSS and Flotherm CFD simulation, respectively. The experimental investigations were carried for the validation of simulation results. The responses were found for the L27 (six factors, three levels) Taguchi-based design of experiments combinations. The ANOVA test was carried to test the significance of the design parameters towards the multi-objective optimisation. From the results of GRA, it is inferred that number of fins, width and base height are the most influencing parameters influencing the simultaneous minimisation of the responses studied.

Keywords: flat plate heat sinks; optimisation; Taguchi methods; design of experiments; DOE; grey relational analysis; GRA; HFSS simulation; CFD simulation; computational fluid dynamics; experimentation; electromagnetic emitted radiation; thermal resistance; ANOVA.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPELEC.2012.049028

International Journal of Power Electronics, 2012 Vol.4 No.4, pp.340 - 359

Accepted: 29 Jan 2012
Published online: 23 Aug 2014 *

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