Cover
Vol. 1 No. 2 (2025)

Published: December 1, 2025

Pages: 114-122

Original Article

Numerical Investigation of Temperature Distribution and Thermal Resistance in a Heat Sink Using Varied Fin Radius and Length

Sana Yaseen 1 Ali Abed Abdel-Nasser Sharkawy 2
1Mechatronics Engineering Department, University of Basrah, Basrah, Iraq
2Mechatronics Engineering, Mechanical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, South Valley University, Qena 83523, Egypt & Mechanical Engineering Department, College of Engineering, Fahad Bin Sultan University, Tabuk 47721, Saudi Arabia
History
  • Received: June 24, 2025
  • Revised: August 26, 2025
  • Accepted: August 28, 2025
  • Available Online: December 1, 2025
DOI

https://doi.org/10.33971/ijmrai.1.2.14

Abstract

This research provides a numerical investigation into the thermal and hydraulic performance of a pin-fin heat sink, considering the effects of fin radius, fin length, and the arrangement of the arrays. A 3D computational model was developed and solved in ANSYS Icepak for conjugate heat transfer and fluid flow under forced convection. The fin length was changed from 1 cm to 8 cm, and the fin radius from 1 mm to 6 mm. Inline and staggered configurations were investigated for the two types of arrangements to assess their effect on performance. The findings underscore an important trade-off between thermal resistance and pressure drop. As anticipated, the staggered configuration provided a consistent increase in the heat transfer coefficient because of better flow mixing and disruption of the thermal boundary layers. This improvement, however, came with a significantly higher pressure drop. From the analysis, it was evident that the best configuration is strongly influenced by the length of the fins. With shorter fins of 1-3 cm, the staggered array decreased thermal resistance far better than the in-line array. With longer fins of 6-8 cm, the in-line configuration frequently provided better overall performance because the mass flow rate was higher due to less pressure drop than the long, staggered path. In addition, the radius of the fin exhibited a nonlinear relationship with regard to performance. Increasing the radius provided a greater area for heat dissipation, but it also increased obstruction to the flow. For every specific length and arrangement combination, a thermal performance maximizing radius existed. This work gives important design rules for the thermal optimization of the heat sink geometry and emphasizes the importance of the staggered array, for short fin lengths, while revealing the in-line configuration advantage for long fin lengths when minimizing pressure drop becomes the main concern.

Keywords

References

  1. W. Luo, L. Cao, Y. Shi, L. Wan, H. Zhang, S. Li, G. Chen, Y. Li, S. Li, Y. Wang, S. Sun, M. F. Karim, H. Cai, and A. Liu, “Recent progress in quantum photonic chips for quantum communication and internet,” Light: Science and Applications, vol. 12, no. 1. Springer Nature, 2023, doi: 10.1038/s41377-023-01173-8
  2. S. Al-Omari, Z. Qureshi, E. Elnajjar, and F. Mahmoud, “A heat sink integrating fins within high thermal conductivity phase change material to cool high heat-flux heat sources,” International Journal of Thermal Sciences, vol. 172, 2022, doi: 10.1016/j.ijthermalsci.2021.107190
  3. A. Gaikwad, A. Sathe, and S. Sanap, “A design approach for thermal enhancement in heat sinks using different types of fins: A review,” Frontiers in Thermal Engineering, vol.2, 2023, doi: 10.3389/fther.2022.980985
  4. T. Yang, W. P. King, and N. Miljkovic, “Phase change material-based thermal energy storage,” Cell Reports Physical Science, vol. 2, no. 8. Cell Press, 2021, doi: 10.1016/j.xcrp.2021.100540
  5. M. B. Ben Hamida, K. Hajlaoui, and M. A. Almeshaal, “A 3D numerical analysis using phase change material for cooling circular light emitting diode,” Case Stud. Therm. Eng., vol. 43, no. February, p. 102792, 2023, doi: 10.1016/j.csite.2023.102792
  6. M. Ben Hamida, “Thermal management of square light emitting diode arrays: modeling and parametric analysis,” Multidiscip. Model. Mater. Struct., vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 363–383, 2024, doi: 10.1108/MMMS-09-2023-0311
  7. H. Shafeie, O. Abouali, K. Jafarpur, and G. Ahmed, “Numerical study of heat transfer performance of single-phase heat sinks with micro pin-fin structures.” Applied Thermal Engineering, Vol. 58, no. 1-2, pp. 68-76, 2013, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2013.04.008
  8. T. Yeom, T. Simon, T. Zhang, M. Zhang, M. North, and T. Cui, “Enhanced heat transfer of heat sink channels with micro pin fin roughened walls.” International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, Vol. 92, pp. 617-627, 2016 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2015.09.014
  9. W. Arshad, and H. M. Ali. “Graphene Nano platelets Nano fluids thermal and hydrodynamic performance on integral fin heat sink.” International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 107, pp. 995-1001, 2017, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2016.10.127
  10. J. M. Jalil, A. H. Reja, and A. M. Hadi. “Numerical Investigation of Thermal Performance of Micro-Pin Fin with Different Arrangements.” IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering. vol. 765. no. 1. IOP Publishing, 2020, doi: 10.1088/1757-899X/765/1/012037.
  11. M. Ekpu, “Effect of Fins Arrangement on Thermal Performance in Microelectronics Devices.” Journal of Applied Sciences and Environmental Management, vol.22, no.11, pp.1797-1800, 2018, doi: 10.4314/jasem.v22i11.14.
  12. G. Tanda, “Heat transfer and pressure drop in a rectangular channel with diamond-shaped elements.” International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 44, no. 18, pp. 3529-3541, 2001, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0017-9310(01)00018-7.
  13. V. Shatikian, G. Ziskind, and R. Letan, “Numerical investigation of a PCM-based heat sink with internal fins,” Int J Heat Mass Transf, vol. 48, no. 17, pp. 3689–3706, 2005, doi: 10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2004.10.042.
  14. Y. T. Yang and H. Sen Peng, “Numerical study of thermal and hydraulic performance of compound heat sink,” Numeri Heat Transf A Appl, vol. 55, no. 5, 2009, doi: 10.1080/10407780902776405.
  15. M. A. H. Abdelmohimen, K. Almutairi, M. A. Elkotb, H. E. Abdelrahman, and S. Algarni, “Numerical Investigation of using Different Arrangement of Fin Slides On the Plate-Fin Heat Sink Performance,” Thermal Science, vol. 25, no. 6, 2021, doi: 10.2298/TSCI201004065A.
  16. F. Zhou and I. Catton, “Numerical evaluation of flow and heat transfer in plate-pin fin heat sinks with various pin cross-sections,” Numeri Heat Transf A Appl, vol. 60, no. 2, 2011, doi: 10.1080/10407782.2011.588574.
  17. S. J. Yaseen. “Numerical study of the fluid flow and heat transfer in a finned heat sink using Ansys Icepak”, Open Engineering, vol. 13, no. 1, 2023, pp. 20220440. https://doi.org/10.1515/eng-2022-0440.
  18. M. Izadi, H. Fagehi, A. Imanzadeh, S. Altnji, M. Bechir Ben Hamida, and M. A. Sheremet, “Influence of finned charges on melting process performance in a thermal energy storage,” Therm. Sci. Eng. Prog., vol. 37, no. 2022, p. 101547, 2023, doi: 10.1016/j.tsep.2022.101547.
  19. S. Yaseen, Z. Radhi, R. Natoosh, R. Al-Sabur, R. Homod, and H. Mohammed, “A computational search for the optimal microelectronic heat sink using ANSYS Icepak’’, International Journal of Thermofluids, vol. 23, 2024, 100759, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijft.2024.100759.
  20. R. Rosli, K. Mohd Annuar, and F. Ismail, “Optimal Pin Fin Heat Sink Arrangement for Solving Thermal Distribution Problem,” Journal of Advanced Research in Fluid Mechanics and Thermal Sciences, vol. 11, no. 1, 2015.