Explicit formulas for forced convection in a shrouded longitudinal-fin heat sink with clearance

Abstract: We consider laminar forced convection in a shrouded longitudinal-fin heat sink (LFHS) with tip clearance, as described by the pioneering study of Sparrow, Baliga and Patankar [1978, J. Heat Trans, 100(4)]. The base of the LFHS is isothermal but the fins, while thin, are not isothermal, i.e., the conjugate heat transfer problem is of interest. Whereas Sparrow et al. solved the fully developed flow and thermal problems numerically for a range of geometries and fin conductivities, we consider here the physically realistic asymptotic limit where the fins are closely spaced, i.e. the spacing is small relative to their height and the clearance above them. The flow problem in this limit was considered by Miyoshi et al. [2024, J. Fluid Mech, 991, A2], and here we consider the corresponding thermal problem. Using matched asymptotic expansions, we find explicit solutions for the temperature field (in both the fluid and fins) and conjugate Nusselt numbers (local and average). The structure of the asymptotic solutions provides insight into the results of Sparrow et al.: the flow is highest in the gap above the fins, hence heat transfer predominantly occurs close to the fin tips. The new formulas are compared to numerical solutions and are found to be accurate for practical LFHSs. Significantly, existing analytical results for ducts are for boundaries that are either wholly isothermal, wholly isoflux or with one of these conditions on each wall. Consequently, this study provides the first analytical results for conjugate Nusselt numbers for flow through ducts.