Optimizing Groove-Enhanced Microchannels for High-Performance Heat Dissipation

Traditional parallel straight microchannels are limited by low heat flux density and non-uniform flow distribution. From a system optimization perspective, incorporating surface grooves provides an effective means to enhance solid-liquid interaction and improve overall performance. Using water as the working fluid, this study numerically investigates the coupled effects of inlet flow rate, groove number, and groove spacing on the thermo-hydraulic behavior of groove-type microchannel heat sinks. The results reveal a fundamental trade-off between heat transfer enhancement and hydraulic resistance. Increasing coolant velocity significantly improves heat dissipation, but also raises the pressure drop, affecting pumping power and system stability. Likewise, grooves act as flow-disturbing elements that induce separation and vortex formation, thereby enhancing convective heat transfer while increasing flow resistance. For fixed channel length and groove number, optimizing groove spacing enables a balanced improvement in heat transfer and reduction in pressure losses. Overall, the findings frame the design as a multi-objective optimization problem, where thermal performance, pressure drop, and energy efficiency must be simultaneously considered. It is shown that proper selection of groove configuration ensures efficient heat removal, stable fluid circulation, accurate temperature control, and minimized energy consumption due to excessive pressure losses.