Predicting the thermal performance characteristics of staggered vertical pin fin array heat sinks under combined mode radiation and mixed convection with impinging flow

A theoretical and experimental study was carried out investigating the influence of thermal radiation on the thermal performance of a pin fin array heat sink with the purpose of developing accurate predictive capability for such situations, and to determine the particular design parameters and environmental conditions under which thermal radiation might be advantageous to the thermal performance. Several different types of experimental tests were run with the corresponding physical parameter variations including the emissivity of the heat sink, elevated ambient air temperature, the temperature of a visible hot surface, and its radiation configuration factor. A theoretical model, validated by experimental data, which includes the capability of predicting the influence of thermal radiation on the thermal performance of a pin fin array heat sink, was developed by introducing an effective radiation heat transfer coefficient that was added to the convective heat transfer coefficient.