NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF METAL-PLASTIC COMPOSITE HEAT RADIATOR WITH HEMISPHERICAL MICROSTRUCTURE ARRAY

A new type of metal-plastic composite heat radiator with hemispherical microstructure array was proposed in this paper. The influence of the geometrical parameters of the microstructure array, including size of the hemisphere, configuration of hemisphere, tilt angle of the radiator, thermal conductivity and radiation emissivity of the plastic, on the process of heat transfer under natural convection were numerically simulated. It was concluded that the metal-plastic composite heat radiator with hemispherical microstructure array had comparable heat transfer behaviors with those of metal heat radiator. So it is possible to replace metal heat radiator by such a metal-plastic composite heat radiator in case of high moisture or corrosion applications. Under the same volume, the cooling capacity of the heat radiator made of metal-plastic was 20 times as the heat radiator made of metal. The heat flux of plastic plate with hemispherical microstructure was superior to the ordinary flat plastic plate. And the former heat flux was 2050 W/m 2 , about two times as the latter, 1272W/m 2 . The optimal inclination angle of the heat radiator with maximum heater flux was around 45°.