Heat Mass Transfer (2013) 49:207217

DOI 10.1007/s00231-012-1072-0

ORIGINAL

Effect of surface radiation heat transfer on the optimal

distribution of discrete heat sources under natural convection
Tapano Kumar Hotta Pullarao Muvvala
S. P. Venkateshan

Received: 30 November 2011 / Accepted: 3 September 2012 / Published online: 18 October 2012
Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2012

Abstract Experiments have been conducted for natural

convection heat transfer from protruding discrete heat
sources, mounted at different positions on a substrate, to
determine the optimal configuration, and to study the effect
of surface radiation on them, which reduces their temperature upto 12 %. The optimal configuration has been
determined by a non-dimensional geometric distance
parameter (k). An empirical correlation has been proposed
between the non-dimensional steady state temperature (h)
and k, by taking into account the effect of surface radiation
heat transfer.
Keywords Discrete heat source  Natural convection 
Optimal configuration  Surface radiation  Thermal
management
List of symbols
A
Area of the heat source, m2
F
Shape factor between the surfaces of heat sources
g
Gravitational acceleration, 9.81 m/s2
Gr
Grashof number, gbThs  T1 L3 =m2

Gr
Modified Grashof number, gbDTref L3 =m2
h
Heat transfer coefficient, W/m2 C
I
Heat source input current, A
k
Thermal conductivity, W/m K
L
Length of the heat source, m
Nu
Nusselt number, hconvL/kf
q
Non-dimensional heat flux, Qsupplied L=Akf T1

T. K. Hotta  P. Muvvala  S. P. Venkateshan (&)

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Heat Transfer
and Thermal Power Laboratory, IIT Madras,
Chennai 600036, India
e-mail: spv@iitm.ac.in

Q
Ra
t
ti
T
v
V
X, Y
Z
P

d2i

Rate of heat transfer, W

Rayleigh number, GrPr
Thickness of the substrate, m
Thickness of the insulation, m
Temperature, K
Volume of the heat source, m3
Heat source input voltage, V
Centroid, with the origin fixed at the left bottom
corner of the heat source 51, m
Geometric parameter, X/Y
Sum of the square of the distances, for each
configuration, from the centroid of each heat
source of that configuration, to the centroid of
that particular configuration, m2

Greek symbols
b
Isobaric thermal expansion coefficient of air,
1/Tmean, K-1
DTref Reference temperature, QsuppliedL/Akf, K
e
Hemispherical emissivity of the surfaces of heat
source
k
Non-dimensional geometric distance parameter
r
Stefan Boltzmann constant, 5.67 9 10-8, W/m2K4
h
Non-dimensional temperature, Tmaximum  T1 =
DTref
Subscripts
1
Ambient
i
For each heat source
c
For each configuration
cond Conduction
conv Convection
f
Fluid (air)
rad
Radiation
hs
Heat source

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1 Introduction
Due to rapid growth in semiconductor industries, power
dissipation from electronic components, and equipments
increases rapidly, leading to continuous increase of power
density. As the size of electronic components become
smaller, and smaller, the area available for heat dissipation
also becomes smaller. This results in dissipation of high
heat flux at the chip level. For reliable operation of electronic components, their operating temperature must not
exceed around 80 C. So it is very important to find the
optimal distribution of heat sources mounted on a substrate,
to improve the cooling rate.
Bazylak et al. [1] have performed, the numerical analysis of convection patterns associated with distributed heat
sources in an enclosure, and found that, the spacing equal
to that of source length of heat sources provide an effective
convective heat transfer. Further increase in spacing does
not result in any significant improvement in heat transfer.
Bhowmick et al. [2] have done experiments for transient
natural convection heat transfer from four in-line, simulated electronic chips, which are flush-mounted on one wall
of a vertical rectangular channel, and found that the heat
transfer coefficient is affected strongly by the number of
chips. Calcagni et al. [3] have studied experimentally, and
numerically, the effect of free convective heat transfer in a
square enclosure, with a discrete heater, heated from
below, and found that, for high Rayleigh number, an
increase of the heat source dimension results in increase of
heat transfer. Chadwick et al. [4] have studied numerically,
the effect of natural convection heat transfer in a discretely
heated enclosure, and found that, for a single heat source
configuration, heater locations closer to the bottom of the
enclosure, yield highest rate of heat transfer in the high
Grashof number range. Chen and Liu [5], and Chen et al.
[6] have done experimental studies to find the optimal
spacing among the heated elements, for the cooling of
electronic packages, and found that, a better thermal performance can be obtained, if the center to center distance
between the heat sources follow geometric series. Da Silva
et al. [7] have done numerical studies for the optimal distribution of discrete heat sources cooled by laminar natural
convection, and found that, the spacing between heat
sources are not uniform, and depend on Rayleigh number.
Deng et al. [8] have studied numerically, the steady state
natural convection heat transfer, induced by multiple discrete heat sources, in 2D horizontal enclosures. They have
developed a combined temperature scale method, and a
unified heat transfer characteristics analysis to describe
heat sources of different type, size, and strength, which are
found to be very efficient for the evaluation of the interaction between discrete heat sources, and their effect on the
overall heat, and fluid flow structures. Desarayadu et al. [9]

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Heat Mass Transfer (2013) 49:207217

have numerically investigated, the steady, 2D, laminar

natural convection heat transfer in a system of parallel
vertical channels, with a single protruding heat module,
and found that, conduction through the substrate is an
important cooling mechanism, and must be taken into
account for the analysis of heat transfer. Dias et al. [10]
have attempted numerical optimization, using genetic
algorithm for natural convection heat transfer, from nonuniformly heated sources mounted on a vertical wall, and
proposed that, the genetic algorithm is a computationally
feasible optimization methodology, for finding the optimal
location of heat sources in a vertical wall. Fujii et al. [11]
have studied numerically, and experimentally, the effect of
natural convection heat transfer to air, from an array of
vertical parallel plates, with protruding discrete heat sources, and proposed a method for finding the inner temperature of heat sources. Liu and Phan [12] have found
numerically that, the optimal thermal performance can be
obtained, when the distance between chips follow a golden
mean ratio of 1.618, by which there is a temperature drop
of 10 %. Liu et al. [13] have solved the optimal spacing
problem for five heated chips resting on a conductive
substrate, in a vertical insulated enclosure filled with air, by
an operator splitting pseudo time stepping finite element
method, and found that, the optimal thermal performance
can be obtained, when the center to center distance
between the chips follow geometric series. Narasimham
[14] has considered the results of 2D and 3D numerical
analysis of natural convection heat transfer, taking into
account the effect of surface radiation, and has suggested
that for obtaining accurate results, the coupling of
conduction with natural convection should be considered.
Sudhakar et al. [15] have investigated numerically, and
experimentally, the steady, 3D, conjugate natural convection
cooling of five heat sources mounted on a wall. They have
developed a correlation between non-dimensional temperature (h), and non-dimensional geometric distance parameter
(k). Sudhakar et al. [16] have reported the results of
experimental, and numerical investigations of optimal heat
distribution of 15 protruding discrete heat sources under
laminar conjugate mixed convection heat transfer in a vertical duct. Wang et al. [17] have used holographic interferometry, to investigate the flow, and temperature field in a
PCB array, for the study of natural convection heat transfer,
and proposed an empirical correlation. Yang et al. [18] have
done a numerical study to find the optimal spacing of five
heated chips mounted on a conductive substrate, and found a
temperature drop of 17 %, when the distance between chips
follow a golden mean ratio of 1.618. They have used an
operator time stepping finite element method, for numerically solving the problem.
Though a number of papers have been published on the
general area of cooling of discrete heat sources mounted on

Heat Mass Transfer (2013) 49:207217

209

a substrate, not much work has been done experimentally,

by considering the effect of surface radiation heat transfer
on them. So the present work emphasizes, the importance
of surface radiation heat transfer, for the cooling of discrete
heat source modules.

2 Experimental set up
The test section, as shown in Fig. 1, consists of a parallelepiped (1) of size 550 mm 9 450 mm 9 450 mm
(representing its length, width, and height respectively),
with wooden walls of thickness 20 mm. A wooden box
(2) is placed at the center of the test section, to avoid any
wall effect from the sides of the parallelepiped, and is fitted
to it by nut, and bolt arrangement (3). On one face of the
wooden box, a substrate (4) of low thermal conductivity
material (Bakelite) is attached, on which five heat sources
(5) (Aluminum) are mounted at various positions. The
dimensions of the heat sources, and their placing on the
substrate, are shown in Fig. 2. The thermal conductivity of
the substrate (k = 1.4 W/m K) is very low as compared to
heat source (k = 235 W/m K), so that the substrate acts as
an insulation by reducing the heat loss from the back surface of heat sources. The wooden box is filled with silica
glass wool (k = 0.04 W/m K), for further reducing the heat
loss from the back surface of heat sources, and substrate.
The dimensions of different parts of the test section are
given in Table 1. The faces of the heat sources as well as
the top and bottom of the test section are open to ambient.
A photographic view of the test section along with its
different parts is shown in Fig. 3. A large wooden cavity
has been placed over the experimental set up, to avoid any
external disturbances. The other units of the experimental
set up are DC Power supply, Data logger, and Computer,
whose details are given below.
The heat sources are cut into rectangular blocks of
desired sizes, as given in Table 1. A cavity of size,
11 mm 9 11 mm 9 4 mm is made, on the back surface of
each heat source, for placing of thermocouples, and heater
wires. A 80/20 coil type Nichrome wire (80 % Nickel and
20 % Chromium) is used as the heating element, and is
inserted in the cavity with Teflon tape wound around it, to
avoid metal to metal contact. The temperature of the heat
sources (Ths) has been measured by placing chromelalumel K-type (32 AWG) thermocouples at 4 different positions on their faces, where drill holes have been made to
insert the beads of the thermocouples. The beads have been
prepared by using a capacitance discharge type bead
making apparatus. All the thermocouples have been calibrated with a standard thermometer, at ice point, boiling
point of water, and at room temperature, and have a measurement error of 0.2 C. Four screw holes are made at

Fig. 1 Schematic of the test section, used for the experimental study
1 parallelepiped 2 wooden box 3 nut and bolt arrangement 4 substrate
5 heat source

Fig. 2 Dimensions of the substrate, showing the 25 positions for

placing of five heat sources

the corners of each heat source to fix them on the substrate.

Thermocouples have also been placed on the back face of
the substrate (on the front face heat sources are mounted),
and at different positions on the insulation (silica glass
wool), to measure the temperature of the substrate

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Heat Mass Transfer (2013) 49:207217

Table 1 Specifications of the test section, with discrete heat sources

Objects

Specifications, in mm (length 9 width 9 height or

thickness)

Heat sources

15 9 15 9 6 (thickness)

Substrate

200 9 200 9 5 (thickness)

Wooden box

200 9 130 9 200 (height)

Parallelepiped

550 9 450 9 450 9 20 (thickness)

Wooden
cavity

750 9 750 9 800 9 2 (thickness)

(Tsubstrate), and insulation (Tinsulation) respectively. The

schematic of a heat source with thermocouples, and heater
wires is shown in Fig. 4.
The heat input, to each of the five heat sources, has been
independently controlled by DC power supplies, which
have a voltage range of 012 V, and a current range of 02
A. A digital multimeter has been used, to cross check the
data with DC power supply unit. It is connected in series
with heater, for measuring the current, and parallel with
heater, for measurement of voltage. The temperature data
of the heat source, substrate, and insulation have been
recorded by a PC based data acquisition system. The data
logger model is 34970A, manufactured by Agilent technologies limited, which can display, and store the data
recorded by thermocouples. The schematic arrangement of
the experimental set up is shown in Fig. 5. The procedure
for conducting the experiment is explained under the
Sect. 2.1.
2.1 Experimental procedure

Fig. 3 Photographic view of the test section, used for the experimental study

Fig. 4 Schematic of a heat source, with thermocouples, and heater

wires

123

The DC power supplies are switched on, and the voltage is

adjusted, in order to obtain the desired heat input, for all
the five heat sources. The data logger, and computer are
switched on, and the scan is initiated. When the variation in
thermocouple readings are within 0.1 C, in ten minutes,
it is assumed that steady state has been reached, and the
scanned data are stored in the computer. The voltage,
current from the DC power supplies, and the temperature
from the computer have been recorded. The experiments
have been conducted for two different heat inputs of 0.5
and 1 W, and for both polished, and black painted surfaces.
The calculations have been done by taking an emissivity

Fig. 5 Schematic arrangement of the experimental set up

Heat Mass Transfer (2013) 49:207217

211

value of 0.08 for polished surface, and 0.85 for black

painted surface respectively, as reported by Sabareesh
et al. [19]. A total of 36 experiments have been conducted
for all the configurations shown in Fig. 6.
In each experiment, the temperatures of all the five heat
sources, and the ambient have been recorded, and then the
temperature excess, which is the difference of temperature
between the heat source, and the ambient has been calculated by using Eq. 1.
Texcess Ths  T1

The experiments have been repeated by painting the surface of heat sources with black paint. The contribution of
radiation heat transfer has been evaluated, by computing
the shape factor between the faces of heat sources, which
are facing each other, by using equations given in [20]. The
shape factor for the faces, which are only facing the
ambient, and not facing any other heat sources, are taken as
1. The net radiative heat transfer from all the faces of the
heat sources to the surrounding is calculated, by using
radiosity-irradiation formulation, as explained in [21].
Then the heat transfer coefficient due to convection (hconv),
and radiation (hrad) has been calculated by using the energy
balance Eqs. 28, given below, and a comparison has been
made for all the five heat sources. The percentage contribution of radiation heat transfer to the total energy balance,
htotal (which is the sum total of hconv and hrad) has been
calculated by dividing the value of hrad by htotal.
The non-dimensional numbers for natural convection
heat transfer have been calculated, and an empirical correlation has been proposed between Nusselt number
(Nu), and Rayleigh number (Ra) of the heat sources.

Fig. 7 Problem domain for natural convection, and surface radiation

heat transfer from discrete heat sources mounted on the substrate

Another correlation has been proposed between the nondimensional temperature (h), non-dimensional geometric
distance parameter (k), non-dimensional heat flux (q ), and
emissivity (e) of the surface of heat source. The experimental calculations have been done, by using the Eqs. 28,
given below. The problem domain, for the experimental
study is shown in Fig. 7.
Qsupplied VI

4
4
 T1

Qrad FerAThs

Qcond ksubstrate AThs  Tsubstrate =t

Qinsulation kinsulation ATsubstrate  Tinsulation =ti

Qconv Qsupplied  Qrad  Qcond  Qinsulation

hconv Qconv =AThs  T1

8
hrad Qrad =AThs  T1
Here Eq. 2 is the Ohms law, which is the fundamental
law of physics. Eqs. 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8 are the basic heat
transfer laws, and Eq. 6 comes from energy balance. The
physical domain considered for the above Eqs. 28, is the
whole wooden box unit, consisting of substrate (attached
on one face of the wooden box), heat sources (mounted on
the front face of the substrate), and the insulation (silica
glass wool, which is filled inside the wooden box). The
assumptions made for deriving the above Eqs. 28, are
given below.
1.
2.

Fig. 6 Different configurations, used for the experimental study

The system (wooden box unit) is assumed to be

adiabatic.
The conduction loss along the length of the substrate
board is neglected as compared to the losses along its
depth, because the length of the substrate board is very
high (200 mm) as compared to its thickness (5 mm).

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3.

Heat Mass Transfer (2013) 49:207217

The heat sources (Aluminum) are assumed to be

isothermal (as the difference between temperature of
heat source measured by averaging the temperatures
obtained by the four thermocouples placed at different
positions on the face of the heat source, and the
temperature obtained by connecting all the thermocouples in series, which are placed on the face of the
heat source, is negligible).

3 Results and discussion

The main objective of the present study, is to determine the
optimal configuration, among all possible configurations of
heat sources, mounted on a substrate, and to study the
effect of surface radiation heat transfer. The optimal configuration is one, whose maximum temperature excess
(difference between the maximum temperature among five
heat sources of that configuration, and ambient temperature) must be lowest among all possible configurations.
There can be 53,130 number of different configurations, for
arrangement of five heat sources on the substrate, using a
5 9 5 grid. Sudhakar et al. [15] have done numerical
simulations, for finding the optimal configuration, among
all possible configurations, and suggested some near
optimal configurations, by defining a non-dimensional
geometric distance parameter (k). With reference to
Sudhakar et al. [15], and the definition of k, as given in
Eq. 9, nine configurations, as shown in Fig. 6, have been
chosen carefully, for the present analysis, in such a way
that, their k value lies within the whole range of k values of
all possible configurations, which are between 0.107 and
1.380. Experiments have been conducted for those configurations at two different modified Grashof numbers
(Gr ) of 2.1 9 105 and 4.2 9 105, representing two power
levels of 0.5 and 1 W respectively, and for both polished,
and black painted surfaces. k has been defined as
P
k

l2

di2
Yc2

where the subscript, i, denotes the heat source number. This

expression is valid for placing of any number of heat
sources on a substrate, irrespective of their sizes, as long as
the heat sources do not interfere with each other. However
P
in the present case all heat sources are of same size. d2i is
calculated as (Xi - Xc)2 ? (Yi - Yc)2, where Xi and Yi are
the centroids of each heat source measured from, y-axis
and x-axis of the substrate respectively. The axes have been
selected, in a different way, as compared to Sudhakar et al.
[15], and is shown in Fig. 2. Xc and Yc are respectively, the
mean of all Xi and Yi. To generalize the expression of k,
which hence can be applicable to heat sources, and

123

substrate of different sizes, as considered from the case of

present analysis, l2 is added to the denominator. Where l is
the distance between y-axis, and the right edge of the heat
source number 15, as shown in Fig. 2, and for the present
analysis, l is 105 mm. For example, for the configuration 32
- 43 - 45 - 51 - 54, the Xi are 30, 52.5, 97.5, 7.5 and 75 mm
respectively, and the Yi are 52.5, 30, 30, 7.5 and 7.5 mm
respectively. So the Xc and Yc are 52.5 and 25.5 mm
P 2
respectively. The
di value, as calculated from above, is
6,480 mm2. So the k value for this configuration is 0.555.
Similarly k value is calculated for all the configurations
shown in Fig. 6. One more geometric parameter, Z is
defined as, X/Y, and for a particular heat source, it is Xi/Yi.
For example, for the configuration 32 - 43 - 45 - 51 - 54, for
the heat source number 45, Xi is 97.5 mm, and Yi is 30 mm.
So for this heat source, Z is 3.25. Similarly Z is calculated
for all the heat sources of all configurations, used for the
experimental study.
3.1 Variation of maximum, and minimum value
of temperature excess of different configurations,
with their k value
It is seen from Fig. 8 that, the value of maximum temperature excess for a particular configuration reduces, as
their k value increases. This is because of the fact that, for
P 2
maximum value of k, the
di value, for a particular
configuration is quite high, as can be seen from Eq. 9.
This is possible by keeping the heat sources far apart, so
that the interaction effect between the heat sources reduce,
leading to decrease in the value of maximum temperature
excess of the heat source of that configuration. Similar
trends have been found for both polished, and black
painted surfaces. As the emissivity of black painted surface is high, so the emission from the surface of black
painted surface to surrounding is more, as compared to
that of polished surface. It has been found that, there is a
temperature drop of around 10 %  C from polished to
black painted surface.
In order to test the generality of this observation,
experiments have been conducted for two different power
levels of 0.5 and 1 W and, the maximum temperature
excess has been measured in both the cases. Both cases
follow the same trend for all the configurations. As our
objective is to minimize the maximum temperature excess
among all the configurations, so the configuration having
highest k value is the optimal one. The heat source,
having maximum temperature excess among the other
heat sources for a particular configuration is shown in
Table 2.
To generalize the above observation, one more plot has
been made between the minimum value of temperature
excess of different configurations with their k value,

Heat Mass Transfer (2013) 49:207217

213

Fig. 8 Variation of maximum value temperature excess of different

configurations, with their k value

Fig. 9 Variation of minimum value temperature excess of different

configurations, with their k value

Table 2 Heat source having maximum temperature excess among

other heat sources for a particular configuration

coefficient drops by 310 % from polished to black painted

surface. This is due to the fact that, for black painted surface, the value of emissivity is high, so the rate of heat
transfer from the surface of heat source to surrounding is
more, leading to increase in the contribution of radiation
component. Also the temperature of the black painted heat
source reduces, and hence the convective component
decreases as compared to that of polished surfaces.
To sum up, from the above discussion, the optimal
configuration is 11-15-51-53-55, which is having highest
value of k i.e. 1.380.

Configuration

Value of k

Heat source having maximum

temperature excess among
other heat sources

11-15-51-53-55

1.380

53

11-13-15-51-55

1.203

13

32-43-45-51-54

0.555

32

43-51-52-54-55

0.490

52 (54)

51-52-53-54-55

0.457

53

12-15-21-23-34

0.374

12

31-32-33-34-35

0.367

33

11-12-14-15-23

0.278

12 (14)

11-12-13-14-15

0.247

13

as shown in Fig. 9. It has been found that, it also follows

the same trend as explained above, that means the minimum value of temperature excess also reduces, as the k
value of the configuration increases. So it is concluded that,
the configuration having highest k value is the optimal one.
3.2 Variation of maximum, and minimum value
of convective heat transfer coefficient of different
configurations, with their k value
It is seen from Figs. 10, 11 that, the value of convective
heat transfer coefficient (both maximum, and minimum)
increases, by increasing the k value of the configuration,
leading to better cooling of heat sources. This is due to the
fact that, by increasing the k value, both the maximum, and
minimum temperature excess of the configurations
decrease. Similar trends have been found for both polished,
and black painted surfaces. The convective heat transfer

3.3 Variation of temperature excess of different

heat sources, for the optimal configuration
11-15-51-53-55
It is seen from Fig. 12 that, for the heat input of 0.5 W, the
minimum temperature excess is obtained for the heat
sources 51 and 55 (as they are placed symmetrically on the
bottom of the substrate), for both polished, and black
painted cases. This is due to the fact that, these heat sources
are placed at the bottom corner on the substrate, and are
surrounded by cold ambient. They also dont experience
the thermal environment of other heat sources, owing to
their low vertical positioning on the substrate. The temperature of heat source 53 is highest among all, as it is
under the thermal interaction of heat sources 51 and 55. As
the heat sources 11 and 15 (which are also placed symmetrically on the substrate) are placed at the top corner on
the substrate and, are not affected much by buoyancy
induced flow, so their temperature is slightly higher than
that of heat sources 51 and 55. There is a temperature drop
of around 10 % from polished to black painted surface.
Thus surface radiation plays an important role for the

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Heat Mass Transfer (2013) 49:207217

Fig. 10 Variation of maximum value convective heat transfer

coefficient of different configurations, with their k value

Fig. 12 Variation of temperature excess of different heat sources, for

the optimal configuration

Fig. 11 Variation of minimum value convective heat transfer

coefficient of different configurations, with their k value

Fig. 13 Variation of convective heat transfer coefficient of different

heat sources, for the optimal configuration

cooling of electronic modules. The experiments have been

repeated for the heat input of 1 W, and similar trends have
been found, as discussed above.

decreases further, becomes minimum for heat source 53,

which is having maximum temperature, and then starts
increasing for heat sources 11 and 15. The value of convective heat transfer coefficient for heat sources 51 and 55,
and for heat sources 11 and 15 are almost same, as they are
placed symmetrically on the substrate. Similar trends have
been found for both polished, and black painted cases. The
value of convective heat transfer coefficient is more for
polished surface as compared to that of black painted
surface, because of the fact that, for black painted surface,
the radiation heat transfer is more dominant, resulting in a
decrease in the value of convective heat transfer coefficient. Similar trends have been observed for both cases of
0.5 and 1 W.

3.4 Variation of convective heat transfer coefficient

of different heat sources, for the optimal
configuration 11-15-51-53-55
It is seen from Fig. 13 that, convective heat transfer coefficient is highest for the heat sources 51 and 55, as their
temperature is lowest among other heat sources, leading to
better cooling. So convection is more dominant at the
bottom position, when the heat sources are placed on the
corner of the substrate. The heat transfer coefficient

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Heat Mass Transfer (2013) 49:207217

215

sources, mounted on the substrate, and for both polished,

and black painted surfaces. So a new empirical correlation,
between non-dimensional temperature (h), non-dimensional
geometric distance parameter (k), non-dimensional heat
flux (q ), and emissivity of the surface (e) has been proposed. This correlation is based on 36 data points, and is
having an index of correlation of 0.92. The percentage RMS
error is found to be 5.1 %. The relation is given in Eq. 10.
h 0:04 k0:31 q 0:15 e=1 e0:03

10

This equation is valid for the following range of

parameters.
0:0326  h  0:0627
0:247  k  1:38

Fig. 14 Percentage contribution of radiation heat transfer of different

heat sources, for the optimal configuration

3.5 Percentage contribution of radiation heat transfer

of different heat sources, for the optimal
configuration 11-15-51-53-55
It is seen from Fig. 14 that, the percentage contribution of
radiation heat transfer is only 0.51 % for polished surface,
as its emissivity is very low, that is 0.08 but the contribution is high for the black painted surface (having an
emissivity of 0.85), that is 1012 %, of the total heat
transfer. Because of this, the temperature of heat sources
come down, leading to better cooling. So emissivity of the
surface plays a significant role for the cooling of discrete
heat source modules. As the heat sources 11 and 15 are
placed symmetrically on the substrate, so the percentage
contribution is same for these two heat sources, and similar
reason holds good for heat sources 51 and 55. By
increasing the power input to heat sources there is no
change in the value of percentage contribution of radiation
to the total heat transfer, so the power input to heat sources
has less significant impact on the percentage contribution
of heat transfer due to radiation. This also means that
experiments need not be performed for many power levels.

1:58  q  3:16
0:08  e  0:85
Based on the above correlation, a parity plot has been
plotted between non-dimensional theta data (hexpt), and
non-dimensional theta fit (heqn), as shown in Fig. 15, and
it has been found that, the scatter in the data is
within 10 %.
One more correlation has been proposed, between
Nusselt number (Nu), geometric parameter of the heat
sources (Z), non-dimensional heat flux (q ), and emissivity
of the surface (e). This correlation is based on 180 data
points, and is having an index of correlation of 0.92. The
percentage RMS error is found to be 6.3 %. The relation is
given in Eq. 11.
Nu 92174 Ra1:05 Z=1 Z1:25 q 0:8 e=1 e0:09
11
This equation is valid for the following range of
parameters.

3.6 Proposed correlations

Sudhakar et al. [15] have proposed a correlation between
the non-dimensional temperature (h), and the non-dimensional geometric distance parameter (k) in the form of
h = 0.61 k-0.2, without taking into account the effect of
surface radiation heat transfer. The present data did not hold
good with this relationship. Hence a better correlation is
needed, which will overcome the anomalies observed, and
that must be satisfied for all the configurations of heat

Fig. 15 Parity plot, showing the agreement between theta data (hexpt),
and theta fit (heqn)

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Heat Mass Transfer (2013) 49:207217

Table 3 Uncertainty in the physical quantities
S. no.

Measured/derived quantities

% Uncertainty

Current (measured)

3.23

Temperature (measured)

1.33

Voltage (measured)

6.25

Power input (derived)

Heat transfer coefficient (derived)

Nusselt number (derived)

5 Conclusions

Fig. 16 Parity plot showing the agreement between Nudata and Nufit

3; 000  Ra  11; 000

10  Nu  31
0:077  Z  13
1:58  q  3:16
0:08  e  0:85
Based on the above correlation, a parity plot has been
plotted between Nusselt number data (Nudata), and Nusselt
number fit (Nufit), as shown in Fig. 16, and it has been
found that, the scatter in the data is within 15 %.
It is to be noted that, the correlations given above are
representative only for the particular configurations considered in the present study. Currently the study is being
extended to a case where the sizes of each discrete heat
source are different. Also the study is being extended to a
case where mixed convection regime of cooling coupled
with surface radiation is involved.

An experimental study has been conducted to study the

effect of surface radiation, for the natural convection heat
transfer from protruding discrete heat sources mounted
on a substrate. A non-dimensional geometric distance
parameter (k) has been defined in such a way that, it will be
valid for, placing of any number of heat sources on a
substrate, irrespective of their sizes. It has been found that,
the maximum, and minimum temperature excess decreases,
by increasing the value of k. Optimal configuration is one,
which is having the highest k value. The results suggest
some guidelines for placing of electronic modules on a
Printed Circuit Board (PCB). The highest heat generating
element should be placed at the bottom corner on the
substrate board. There is an enhancement of heat transfer
up to 12 %, by painting the heat generating modules with
black paint. The contribution of radiation heat transfer
cannot be ignored, as it plays a vital role for the cooling of
electronic modules. A better empirical correlation between
h and k has been proposed by taking in to account the
effect of surface radiation heat transfer, which is valid for
all the possible configurations of heat sources mounted on
the substrate.

References
4 Experimental uncertainty
The uncertainty in the primary quantities has been obtained
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quantities [22], and is shown in Table 3. The ISO guide has
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quantities, as given in [23]. The formula for calculation of
uncertainty is given in Eq. 12.
v
u N 
2
uX or
Dr t
12
Dmi
omi
i1
where r is the derived quantity, m is the measured quantity,
and Dm is the error involved in the measured quantity.

123

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