Numerical Investigation of Heat Transfer Enhancement in Laminar Microchannels with Bio-Inspired Surface Roughness

Abstract

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI), extensive implementation of high-powered graphical processing units (GPU) coupled with advancements in high-performance computing (HPC) and setting up large data centers, has led to significant increase in power densities withing the contemporary electronic systems. Simultaneously, continuous miniaturization has intensified thermal management challenges, necessitating efficient cooling strategies. Bio-inspired thermal management approaches offer enhanced heat transfer performance due to their optimized natural geometries. In this study, a fish scale–inspired microchannel heat sink is designed and numerically analyzed to improve heat dissipation performance. Deionized water is used as the base fluid, and the thermal performance of different nanofluids is also comparatively evaluated under single-phase flow conditions. The results demonstrate enhanced heat transfer characteristics, highlighting the potential of bio-inspired microchannel geometries combined with nanofluids for next-generation electronic cooling applications.