Microscale Surface Modifications for Heat Transfer Enhancement

In this experimental study, two surface modification techniques were investigated for their effect on heat transfer enhancement. One of the methods employed the particle (grit) blasting to create microscale indentations, while the other used plasma spray coating to create microscale protrusions on Al 6061 (aluminum alloy 6061) samples. The test surfaces were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and confocal scanning laser microscopy. Because of the surface modifications, the actual surface area was increased up to 2.8× compared to the projected base area, and the arithmetic mean roughness value (Ra) was determined to vary from 0.3 μm for the reference smooth surface to 19.5 μm for the modified surfaces. Selected samples with modified surfaces along with the reference smooth surface were then evaluated for their heat transfer performance in spray cooling tests. The cooling system had vapor-atomizing nozzles and used anhydrous ammonia as the coolant in order to achieve heat fluxes up to 500 W/cm(2) representing a thermal management setting for high power systems. Experimental results showed that the microscale surface modifications enhanced heat transfer coefficients up to 76% at 500 W/cm(2) compared to the smooth surface and demonstrated the benefits of these practical surface modification techniques to enhance two-phase heat transfer process.