Chemical Engineering & Processing: Process Intensification 156 (2020) 108066

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Chemical Engineering & Processing: Process Intensification

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Flow and heat transfer analysis of microchannels structured with T

rectangular surface roughness
Munib Qasim Ansari, Guobing Zhou*
School of Energy, Power and Mechanical Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, PR China

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: Microchannels structured with hybrid rectangular surface roughness is numerically analyzed for thermal-hy­
Microchannels draulic performances of laminar flow. The performances are compared between working fluids of air and water,
Structured surface roughness and under different heating walls and roughness configuration conditions at constricted Reynolds number (Rec )
Constricted flows of 50–250. The results show that both constricted friction factor and Nusselt number of water are slightly higher
Friction factor
than those of air. The performance index ( ) of air increases with increasing Rec but is decreasing for water, and
Nusselt number
Laminar flow
the average deviation between them is 11 %. The convective heat transfer with one rough heated wall is almost
40 % lower than that of two heated walls, whereas the constricted friction factor has negligible difference. The
channel structured with regular surface roughness (constant roughness height and with air flow) shows about 14
% higher values of than those of the respective channel with hybrid surface roughness at Rec = 200. Structured
surface roughness with suitable configuration can be an innovative way to improve the heat dissipation for
electronic cooling.

1. Introduction heated silicon microchannels (length to hydraulic diameter ratio () and

Research on the development of energy-efficient systems has led to
the evolvement of microchannels, which have compact sizes with high
ratio of surface area to volume [1–3]. These kind of channels are cur­
rently applied in electronic industry, process industries [4–6], aero
engines [7], automotive air-condition [8] and microchannel reactors
[9] with air, water and other working fluids [5,10–12]. Microchannels
are different from the conventional channels in terms of much smaller
channel hydraulic diameters [13,14]; Therefore, factors like pressure
drop and convective heat transfer should be predicted precisely. In the
past, the microchannels were extensively investigated with constant
cross section owing to the limitation of manufacturing technology [3].
However, innovative heat-transfer-enhancing structures (micro-fins,
grooves and structured surface roughness, and different channel
shapes) are increasingly applied to improve the flow mixing which
leads to heat transfer enhancement [11,15–18] of the microchannels
with smaller hydraulic diameter in laminar flow [3,19]. However, these
innovative configurations also result in higher pressure drops despite of
improved heat transfer. Thus, it is motivated to explore such structures
of microchannels which may improve the overall thermal-hydraulic
performance within the limited manufacturing facilities.
Wu and Cheng [20] experimentally investigated laminar flows of
larger surface roughness height to hydraulic diameter (r / D ) were
191.77–453.79 and 9.85 × 10−5–1.09 × 10−2, respectively). The la­
minar Nusselt number (Nu ) of r / D = 5.87 × 10−3 was approximately
18 % higher than r / D = 3.26 × 10−5 and apparently different channel
dimensions were another reason of performance variation. The rise of
Nu was linear at Reynolds number (Re ) < 100. A compact heat sink
with 26 rectangular channels of 300 μm width, 800 μm depth and 4
%–6 % relative roughness ( ) was examined by Shen et al. [21]. The
noted values of Nu were approximately 50 % lesser than the theoretical
predictions, whereas higher inlet temperature and heating power can
give the improved performance. Lin and Kandlikar [22] experimentally
studied the microchannels structured with r =18 μm to 96 μm for the
hydraulic diameter ranging from 0.71 mm to 1.81 mm. The rise of Nu
for r Dc = 14 % in the laminar fully developed region was 377 %, while
the increase of corresponding friction factor was 371 %. Dai et al. [23]
collected experimental data points from 33 articles for micro and mini
channel (liquid) flows and fricitional characteristics, and recommended
the relative roughness of 1% as a threshold to distinguish between
smooth and rough channels. Liu et al. [7] conducted experiments on six
different test channels with varying roughness height ( = 0.58 %, 0.82
%, 1.26 %). The working fluid was air with considered depth and width
of the channels as 400 μm. The pressure drops also increased with in­
creasing roughness height, and deviation of thermal performance

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: zhougb@ncepu.edu.cn (G. Zhou).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cep.2020.108066
Received 24 January 2020; Received in revised form 15 May 2020; Accepted 23 July 2020
Available online 19 August 2020
0255-2701/ © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
M.Q. Ansari and G. Zhou Chemical Engineering & Processing: Process Intensification 156 (2020) 108066

Nomenclature T temperature (K)

Tf fluid temperature (K)
A convective heat transfer area (mm2) Tw average temperature of the heated walls (K)
cp specific heat (J kg−1 K−1) T temperature difference (Tw − Tf ) (K)
D hydraulic diameter (μm) U flow velocity (m s−1)
Dc constricted diameter (μm) W channel width (mm)
f Fanning friction factor x , y, z Cartesian coordinates (m)
fc constricted Fanning friction factor
fD Darcy friction factor Subscript
fs Fanning friction factor for smooth channels
H channel height (μm) c constricted
Hc constricted channel height (μm) f fluid
h convective heat transfer coefficient (W m−2 K−1) s smooth
k thermal conductivity (W m−1 K−1) w wall
L channel length (mm)
Nu Nusselt number Greek letters
Nuc constricted Nusselt number
Nus Nusselt number for smooth channels α H/W, aspect ratio
P pressure difference (Pa) density (kg m−3)
Pin inlet pressure (Pa) performance index
Pout outlet pressure (Pa) r / D , relative roughness
Po Poiseuille number µf fluid viscosity (kg m−1 s−1)
Pr Prandtl number width of surface roughness (μm)
q heat flux (W m−2) pitch of surface roughness (μm)
Q heat transfer rate (W)
r larger surface roughness height (μm) Abbreviations
r smaller surface roughness height (μm)
Re Reynolds number 3D three dimensional
Rec constricted Reynolds number 2D two dimensional

among all the roughness variations was not more than 2 % at Re = 600.
Numerical simulation (CFD) is an effective and a promising way to
get the detailed insight of microchannel flows with certain accuracy
and less cost. Rawool et al. [24] analyzed 3D serpentine microchannels
to investigate the effects of wall roughness and obstructions on laminar
air-flow. The increase of friction factor ( f ) with increasing obstruction
height was nonlinear and the calculated f for r / W = 0.5 was 0.6 (Re =
80). Croce et al. [25,26] performed 3D simulation on microchannels
structured with different conical peaks distributed on smooth surfaces.
An increase in Poiseuille number (Po), based on the smooth micro­
channel hydraulic diameter, was up to 16 % and the considered relative
roughness ( ) was 2.65 %. These impacts of roughness were more evi­
dent on pressure drop than heat transfer. Nandi et al. studied wavy [27]
and raccoon [28] type microchannels (2D) for Re = 0.1–100. They
found that pulsating inlet flow condition can be an innovative way to
enhance the heat transfer. In other studies (2D) [29], they numerically
analysed the developing flows and found that the effect of pulsation
was prominent at lower. Circular and wavy microchannels were also
compared and it was observed that the pulsation influence in circular
channel was prominent at Re ≤ 10, but not in wavy channels [30]. In a
recent study, Ansari and Zhou [15] found that micro and mini channels
(296 µm D 681 µm ) with structured surface roughness peaks ( = 3
%, 6 % and 9 %) have the tendency of better thermal-hydraulic per­
formance at lower constricted Reynolds number (Rec ), while air was
considered as a working fluid. The of 6 % and 9 % were suggested at
Rec of 400 and 100, respectively for the better thermal performance of
channels. Dharaiya and Kandlikar [31] analyzed the influence of si­
nusoidal surface roughness on laminar flows in microchannels. The
deviations of f between the rough and smooth channels were up to
6.33 %. Guo et al. [32] compared the performances of 3D and 2D
roughness for water-flows, and applied Gauss roughness (normal) dis­
tribution method to generate the surfaces of microchannels. It was
concluded that 2D models are less accurate. The Nu of 2D and 3D
models were 6.7 and 7.25, respectively, for relative roughness ( ) of
4.78 % at Re = 200.
It is found in literature that thermal hydraulic performances of
rough channels are different from smooth microchannels and have the
tendency to behave unexpectedly for different roughness shapes. Yet,
the size of microchannels is consistently decreasing in application with
technological advancements [33]. In this scenario, it is important to
investigate the possible surface roughness shapes (structures), not only
for the optimum designs but also to find out how these structures can
behave for different working fluids and varying boundary conditions.
To the best of our knowledge, it is found that hybrid roughness struc­
ture (novel shape and closer to the real surface roughness with different
heights) is not studied before and thus considered as a major part of the
paper. It would be an addition in the pursuit of investigation and op­
timization of microchannels. It is also observed that most of the existing
data contain water as working fluid [7], whereas 33 % of energy bills
are because of electronic devices using air as working fluid [5] and the
application of air-cooling at lower Re is increasing with improving
technology [34]. Therefore, the channel is analyzed for both water and
air, and varying heated (rough) walls. The comparison with the channel
of regular roughness (constant roughness height) r = 30 μm is only
made for comparison and future design considerations. Findings of this
research will give the additional insights of rough microchannels for
electronic cooling.
2. Physical and mathematical models
2.1. Physical modeling
Two different heights of rectangular shaped surface roughness
(larger height and smaller height r ' ) are structured on the upper and
lower walls of the channel, shown in Fig. 1. The thickness of the
channel is not considered in this study to save calculation time, which is
also recommended by some reference studies of smooth and rough
microchannels [31,35,36].

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M.Q. Ansari and G. Zhou Chemical Engineering & Processing: Process Intensification 156 (2020) 108066

The rest of the flow and thermal parameters are also based on the
constricted model and discussed below.

c = Hc W (2)

4Hc W
Dc =
2(Hc + W ) (3)

UDc
Rec =
µf (4)

PDc
fc =
2 U 2L (5)

hDc
Nuc =
k (6)

q
h=
Tw Tf (7)

where c , Dc , Rec , fc , Nuc , U , P , h , , k , Tw , Tf and q represent the

constricted aspect ratio, hydraulic diameter, Reynolds number, Fanning
friction factor, Nusselt number, and flow velocity, pressure difference,
convective heat transfer coefficient, density, thermal conductivity,
average temperature of the heated walls, fluid temperature and heat
flux, respectively. Further details of the physical model are listed in
Table 1.
The enhancement of heat transfer cannot be the sole criteria for the
selection of geometric and flow properties of microchannel, but rather
the designer should analyze both the thermal and hydraulic perfor­
mances. Eq. (8) is one widely used correlation to calculate performance
index ( ) of rough channels. Web [40] proposed a performance eva­
luation method (or performance index “ ”) for the selection of an op­
timum geometry. It is defined as “the ratio of the heat transfer coeffi­
cient of newly interrupted channel (hc ) to the conventional smooth
channel (h ), at an equal pumping power”, as given below

= hc h (8a)

Karwa et al. [41] further explained the development of performance

index correlation at equal pumping power (V P = (V P )c) for chan­
Fig. 1. Physical model of rough microchannels. (a) Flowing domain; (b) sche­ nels (smooth and rough) with different geometric parameters. For
matic of hybrid roughness with different roughness heights; (c) schematic of present study,
regular roughness with constant roughness heights. H Hc , D Dc , L = Lc , W = Wc at Rec = Re and D 2H for W H

Pumping power = P
Fig. 1(a) shows that the fluid-air is flowing from left to right of a
single channel along the channel length. Fig. 1(b) and (c) are showing = m . P , ( is density of fluid, P
the schematic of hybrid and regular (rectangular) surface roughness on is pressure differences) (8b)
channel walls with different and constant heights, respectively. The
channel length, width and height, surface roughness height (larger/ 2 2
smaller), width and pitch are presented by L , W , H , r r , and , re­ P = m.4fLG 2D 2, G = u, P = 2 Lfu D
(8c)
spectively, which are discussed in Table 1 for present simulation.
The constricted flow parameter scheme is defined by Kandlikar et al. where f is Fanning friction factor and u is fluid velocity
[37] to interpret the roughness effect in microchannel flows [38]. “The 3
flow after the rough elements does not re-attach to the channel wall, P = f (WL) G 2, (m = u (HW )) (8d)
due to the higher heights of surface roughness (r ). This decreases the
available channel area of fluid flow and new flow boundary is sus­ The P` ratio of rough and smooth channels will be
pended above the base surface wall at some distance. Then the effective P f AG3
c
height of the flow channel is not the base height (H ) of the channel, but P = c c fAG3 , (Surface area A
is reduced by the size of the roughness elements, i.e. the constricted = W × L is same for both the channels) (8e)
flow height (Hc ), (Fig. 1).” Zhou and Yao [39] normalized the experi­
mental data and found that original constricted model can predict the
Table 1
fD Re (Product of Darcy friction factor and Reynolds number) within the
Dimensional details of the considered microchannel.
deviation of 15 %. The corresponding constricted channel height (Hc ) is
defined below and shown in Fig. 1(b). H (μm) Hc (μm) r
r (μm) (μm) D (μm) L (mm) (μm)

250 190 30/15 250 0.0197 490 12.5 100

Hc = H 2r (1)

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M.Q. Ansari and G. Zhou Chemical Engineering & Processing: Process Intensification 156 (2020) 108066

f
G = Gc ( c )1/3, (after applying the defined condotions)
f (8f)
After putting the respective formulas of heat transfer coefficients in Eq.
(8a)
Nuc
= ( Nu ) ( Dc D )
(8g)
As we know, the ratio of Reynolds number of both the channels ( Rec Re ) is
1, so

1 = Gc Dc GD (8h)
Simplification of Eqs. (8f)–(8h) will give the following,
Nuc
= ( Nus ) ( fc f )1/3
s (8)
where fs and Nus refer to the friction factor and Nusselt number for
smooth channels, respectively.
Fig. 2. Grid dependence study of the considered rough microchannel.
The same correlation is also considered by the other relevant studies
(numerical and experimental) [15,22,32,42].
Following Eqs. (9) and (10) are applied for the calculation of friction where μf, are the dynamic viscosity and density of the fluid, respec­
factor ( f ) and Nusselt number (Nu ) of smooth channels, respectively. tively, and P is the fluid pressure.
The smooth channel (D = 490 μm) is calculated with CFD at Re = 100 Energy equation
and 200, and deviations of present model from the correlation (Eq. (9)) 2T 2T 2T
Tf Tf Tf
are 2.7 % and 1 %, respectively. Additionally, Eq. (10) for Nus is again Cp u +v +w = kf
f
+
f
+
f

based on the experimental data for the laminar flows under constant x y z x2 y2 z2 (13)
heat flux and average deviation from the CFD is less than 10 %.
where cp and kf are the fluid specific heat and thermal conductivity,
Therefore, Eqs. (9) and (10) are considered for the better under­
respectively.
standings and future correspondence.
Shah and London correlation (laminar flow) (S&L) [15]:
2.3. Boundary conditions
24 2 3 4
fs = (1 1.3553 + 1.9467 1.7012 + 0.9564 0.2537 5), for < 1
Re
The schematic diagram of the computational domain is presented in
(9)
Fig. 1(a). The boundary conditions of above governing equations are set
Grigull and Tratz correlation (G&T) [43]: as follows;

• Channel inlet, the velocity of air and water are assumed to be uni­
0.00668(Re D. Pr . D/ L)
Nus = 4.364 + (Laminar flow with constant heat flux)
1 + 0.4 ( L )
Re D . Pr . D 2/3
(10) form and normal to the boundary, x = 0 , 0 y H , 0 z W;
u = U , v = w = 0 ; T = Tin = 300 K .
2.2. Governing equations • The upper wall with random surface roughness (Fig. 1(a)) is sub­
jected to constant heat flux, u = v = w = 0 ; 0 x L ,
(H r ) y H , 0 z W ; q = 1200 W/m2. However, in the
The 3D flow of air and water are assumed steady and incompressible
study of different “rough heated walls”, it is considered adiabatic (q
with constant properties. The radiation and gravitational force are ne­
= 0).
glected. The assumptions of no-slip boundary condition and the flow
continuum are reasonable [44]. The heated walls are under constant • The lower wall with random surface roughness (Fig. 1(a)) is sub­
jected to constant heat flux, u = v = w = 0 ; 0 x L , 0 y r ,
heat flux while thermo-physical properties are anticipated constant.
0 z W ; q = 1200 W/m2.
The flow regime is laminar for Re less than 400. The governing equa­
tions of continuity, momentum and energy are based on the above as­ • The remaining side walls are kept with the constant temperature,
0 x L, 0 y H , z = 0 ; 0 x L, 0 y H , z = W ; T = 300
sumptions and written as follows:
K.
Continuity equation
• At the outlet of the channel, x = L , 0 y H , 0 z W , pressure
u
+
v
+
w
=0 is set with P = Pout = 0 .
x y z (11)
where u, v and w are the velocity components in the x, y and z direc­ 2.4. Solution method
tions, respectively.
Momentum equation The numerical analysis of rough microchannels has been conducted
using the commercial CFD software package FLUENT (Workbench)
u u u P 2u 2u 2u
u +v +w = + µf + + [45]. The corresponding mathematical model with considered
x y z x x2 y2 z2 (12a) boundary conditions and assumptions are solved by the finite volume
method. The second-order-upwind scheme for discretization of gov­
v v v P 2v 2v 2v
u +v +w = + µf + + erning equations is considered along with the SIMPLE algorithm for the
x y z y x2 y2 z2 (12b) velocity-pressure coupling. The iteration of simulations continued until
2w 2w 2w
the normalized residuals of all components being less than 10−6. The
w w w P temperature field is computed once the flow field is converged after the
u +v +w = + µf + +
x y z z x2 y2 z2 (12c) solution of continuity and momentum equations. The average pressure

4
M.Q. Ansari and G. Zhou Chemical Engineering & Processing: Process Intensification 156 (2020) 108066

Fig. 3. Validation of numerical model.

Table 2
Comparison of present model with an experimental study (working fluid-water)
[46].
Re D (μm) Tin (K) Tout (Present) Tout [46] (DTref DTpresent )
DTref
(K) (K)

50 293 0.021 306 309.63 309.32 9.3 %

100 293 0.021 306 308.48 308.57 3%

DT = (Tout Tin ).

at inlet is applied for the calculation of pressure drop (ΔP) through the
channel (Pout = 0) and then constricted Fanning friction factor fc ) with
Eq. (5). The average of upper and lower heated wall temperatures (Tw ),
and the mean value of inlet and outlet temperatures (Tf ) are noted for
calculating the heat transfer coefficient (h ) by using Eq. (7) [31,44].

3. Grid independence and model validation

3.1. Grid independence tests Fig. 4. Effect of varying heat flux on both the rough walls (for water): Nuc vs.
Rec .
The tests are performed to find the optimum mesh concentration for
the considered rough microchannel, where the solution is weakly in­
of 100. The illustration of a grid test with calculated values of fc and
fluenced by discretization errors. The grids are created by adopting pre-
Nuc are elaborated in Fig. 2.
solver software of ANSYS Mesh (Workbench 18.1), and unstructured
The percentage deviation in each model is gradually decreasing,
mesh is applied. The considered channel is studied for four sets of grid
which indicates the solution dependence on grid is negligible.
numbers, i.e. 0.8 × 106, 1.5 × 106, 2.3 × 106 and 3 × 106, are
Discrepancies of fc and Nuc between grid number of 1.5 × 106, 2.3 ×
adopted to examine the influence at constricted Reynolds number (Rec )

Table 3
Comparison of present numerical model for water flows in rough microchannels with a reference study [42].
Rec H (μm) r (μm) (μm) fc (present model) Nu c (present model) fc [42] Nuc [42] Deviation ( fc ) Deviation (Nu c )

100 250 30 250 0.205 10.119 0.226 11.194 9.3 % 9.6 %

J ref Jpres
Deviation = Jref
, (where J is fc or Nuc , ref = reference study and pre = present model).

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M.Q. Ansari and G. Zhou Chemical Engineering & Processing: Process Intensification 156 (2020) 108066

Fig. 5. Flow and heat transfer behaviors of microchannels with hybrid surface roughness for air and water: (a) fc vs. Rec ; (b) Nuc vs. Rec . (c) vs. Rec .

Fig. 6. Velocity streamlines and vectors (Rec = 50): (a) water; (b) air.

6
M.Q. Ansari and G. Zhou
Fig. 7. Non-dimensional temperature contours for air: (a) Rec = 50; (b) Rec = 150.
106 and 3 × 106 are 8.61 %, 2.31 % and 9.5, 0.5 %, respectively.
Therefore, a grid number of 2.3 × 106 is applied to save simulation
time without compromising the accuracy.
3.2. Model validation
It is important to validate the model before the analysis. Therefore,
the smooth channel is considered with hydraulic diameter of 0.5 mm.
The results of present model calculation, Eq. (9) and reference study
[32] are presented in Fig. 3 with the largest deviation of about 4 % and
8 % for Nu and f , respectively. The comparison shows that the varia­
tions are in suitable range.
In present research, numerical model is developed for investigating
microchannels with W H . Therefore, we have further studied the
viability of our model with other similar studies [42,46]. Table 2 il­
lustrates the details and values obtained from the present model and
reference (experimental) study [46]. The deviations are in quite rea­
sonable range.
To validate the present model for the investiagtion of rough chan­
nels, a sample case (microchannel with sinusoidal roughness structure)
has been chosen from the relevant (numerical) study [42] for simula­
tion with same conditions (working fluid-water, boundary conditions,
channel without wall thickness). The constricted flow model is applied
for the calculation of flow and thermal parameters in both studies
(present model and reference [42]). The details are listed in Table 3 and
deviations are in quite suitable range.
These comparisons ensure the applicability of the present model for
further studies. However, the developed model is also applied to in­
vestigate the effects of varying heat flux, while both the rough walls
(Fig. 1(b)) are heated. Fig. 4 shows that the influence of heat flux is
negligible on the convective heat transfer of microchannels, which is
expected in any thermally developed flow [42]. Liu et al. [7] experi­
mentally investigated the rough microchannels (circular) for air-flows
and concluded the similar results.
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Chemical Engineering & Processing: Process Intensification 156 (2020) 108066
4. Results and discussion
4.1. Flow and heat transfer performances with air and water
In this section rough microchannel (H = 250 μm, r r = 30/15 μm
and D = 490 μm) (Fig. 1) is simulated for both air and water as working
fluid and comparison is based on the values of constricted friction factor
(fc), Nusselt number (Nuc ), and performance index ( ) in terms of
constricted Reynolds number (Rec ). Fig. 5(a) shows the variations of fc
in terms of Rec for air and water-flows. fc of air and water are coincident
at Rec = 50; However, fc of water is increasing with increasing Rec and
higher than air with the average of 10 %. The deviation seems due to
the higher density (lower kinematic viscosity) of water as compared
with the air. Fig. 5(b) presents the Nuc variations in terms of Reynolds
number (Rec ) and also increasing with increasing Rec for both air and
water, whereas both the walls are under same constant heat flux. This
increasing tendency is quite intuitive because of the fact that fluid ve­
locity and hence the advection strength increases with the increase in
Rec ; Though, at each Rec , the Nuc of water is higher as compared with
that of air due to higher Prandtl number (Pr ). The difference between
the Nuc of water and air is gradually decreasing with rising Rec . It can
be due to the less fluid density of air and more shearing between the
flow layers i.e. momentum diffusivity. Nu also depends on both Re and
Pr [43], as it is a common fact that the Pr of water drops with the
increase of temperature (for T = 20 oC to 90 oC , Pr = 7 to 1.9, respec­
tively) but for air (at this temperature range) will remain nearly con­
stant (at ∼0.7), though the temperature of water is not changing that
much in the present case but still has the slight effect while the fluid
temperature increases along the channel length with the flow direction.
Therefore, the final Nuc value depends on the combination of both ef­
fects.
At this point it is very important to find that which fluid is giving
better overall performance as the increasing (convective) heat transfer
cannot be the only criteria of selection, especially under the elevated
M.Q. Ansari and G. Zhou Chemical Engineering & Processing: Process Intensification 156 (2020) 108066

frictional effects. Therefore, Eqs. (8) is applied to gauge the perfor­

mance index ( ). Fig. 5(c) shows that the of water is decreasing with
increasing Rec due to the higher Nu values of smooth channels for
water, whereas for air the is increasing. Similar kind of results were
also noted by Pati et al. [11] while analyzing the thermal-hydraulic
performance of serpentine channels for water, which drops 56 % for Re
increasing from 5 to 100.
Fig. 6(a) and (b) respectively show velocity streamlines and vectors
of water and air, which indicates the more flow mixing of air than the
water because of higher kinematic viscosity of air. Fig. 6(b) also ela­
borates that inertial forces of air are dominant that leads to increase of
shearing among the flow layers from laminar sub layer to the center of
the channel. Fig. 7 (dimensionless temperature contours) shows that the
temperature distribution along the channel length varies with Reynolds
number (Rec of 50 and 150) due to the different flow velocities, which
then leads to different heat transfer performances. This is caused by the
interactions between the working-fluid air and heated rough surfaces.
Increasing the Reynolds number causes more changes to the tempera­
ture distribution. The non-dimensional temperature of channel at the
outlet is increased by 21 % at Rec = 50 and only 5.5 % at Rec = 150,
respectively, as compared with the inlet temperature. However, the Nuc
in Fig. 5(b) at Rec = 150 is higher due to the lower temperature dif­
ference between Tw and Tf for constant and uniform heat flux.
The correlations are also developed by using the calculated data for
the estimation of Nuc and fc , whereas the maximum deviations are 8 %
and 9.5 %, respectively under the present condition.
Nuc = 0.012Rec + 1.94k + 4.20 (14)

21.65 2 3 4
fc = (1 1.3553 c + 1.9467 c 1.7012 c + 0.9564 c
Rec
5 14.7Rec 4
0.2537 c) + 10 0.02
5 (15)

4.2. Effect of rough heated walls for air

Fig. 8. Effect of (rough) heated walls (air): (a) fc vs. Rec ; (b) Nuc vs. Rec . (c)
Rec .
The influence of rough walls heating on flow and heat transfer be­
havior is considered with two rough walls (both the lower and upper)
and one rough wall (lower), respectively, under constant heat flux. It is
found that constant heating of walls has negligible effect on the friction
factor shown in Fig. 8(a). But in Fig. 8(b), it is elaborated that the Nuc is
increasing with increasing Rec for both cases as found in earlier section.
The Nuc is calculated for the complete channel to know that how much
it can affect the over-all performance. The Nuc of channel with one
heated wall is lower than the channels with both heated walls (upper
and lower walls). The difference between Nuc of one heated wall and
two heated walls is almost 37 % (at Rec = 50) and the trend is con­
sistent for all the values of Rec . Fig. 8(c) shows the performance index
( ) of channels for both cases, and higher values are observed for
channels with two heated walls because the frictional factor is same for
both cases but higher values of Nuc for channels with two heated walls
(both upper and lower rough walls).
The higher heat transfer of two heated walls (rough) can be ex­
plained by Newton’s law of cooling (Q = AhΔT) where Q is the heat
transfer rate, h is the convective heat transfer coefficient, T is the
temperature difference between the heated surface (walls) and fluid,
and A is the convective heat transfer area. The two heated walls give
more convective heat transfer area (2 × A ) than one heated wall ( A ).
Theocratically, for smooth channels, the Tout (or Tout Tin ) of channels
with two heated walls is expected to be twice of one heated wall [47].
However, Fig. 9 shows that Tout Tin is 19.8 K and 10.8 K for channels
with two heated walls and one heated wall, respectively, at Rec = 150.
vs.
Fig. 9(a) demonstrates that the impact of heated wall goes beyond the
center of the channel towards the opposite unheated wall. Therefore,
Tw Tf for two and one heated walls are 3.06 K and 5.08 K, respectively
(at Rec = 150), where Tw is calculated as the average temperature of

8
M.Q. Ansari and G. Zhou Chemical Engineering & Processing: Process Intensification 156 (2020) 108066

Fig. 9. Temperature contours of heated walls for air (Rec = 150): (a) lower heated wall; (b) lower and upper heated walls.

Fig. 10. Effect of different structured surface roughness on air flow: (a) fc vs. Rec ; (b) Nuc vs. Rec ; (c) vs. Rec .

9
M.Q. Ansari and G. Zhou Chemical Engineering & Processing: Process Intensification 156 (2020) 108066

Fig. 11. Velocity vectors (air, Rec = 150): (a) rectangular hybrid surface roughness (r / r = 30/15 μm); (b) regular (rectangular) surface roughness (with constant
height, r = 30 μm).

upper and lower walls for both the cases. The Nuc ratio of two heated
rough (upper and lower) walls and one heated wall is 1.66 at (at Rec =
150). Dharaiya and Kandlikar [48] also investigated the effects of
varying heated walls. In their study, the ratios of Nu (of complete
channels) for two and one heated walls were 1.35 and 1.6 for D = 272
μm and 150 μm, respectively.
However, in both cases (Fig. 9), the advection of the fluid layer
seems consistent as the fluid moves away from the heated walls.
Fig. 9(a) also shows that the base of constricted area (near the vertical
hills) of lower heated wall has higher temperatures as compared with
respective top-horizontal area of surface roughness. The top-horizontal
area (surface roughness) has closer contact with the low temperature
fluid (at the center of the channel), which is clearly noted in Fig. 9(a),
also observed in Fig. 7(a) of the previous section.
4.3. Comparison between hybrid and regular (constant height) rectangular
surface roughness for air
For further details, the considered micro-channel is also compared
with the rectangular surface roughness at constant height (r = 30 μm),
shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 10(a) elaborates that the fc for r =30 μm is higher
than the surface roughness of hybrid height (r / r = 30/15 μm) with
almost 4 % at Rec = 200. Fig. 10(b) presents that the Nuc of channels
with r =30 μm is also higher than r / r = 30/15 μm and consistently
increasing Nuc with increasing Rec , because of increased flow mixing.
The fc of channels with r = 30 μm is also higher that enhances the
contact between the fluid and heated rough walls. The difference of Nuc
between these cases is consistent. The rise of Nuc with r = 30 μm at Rec
= 200 is almost 17 % than the r / r = 30/15 μm.
It is important to mention that in the calculations, heated surface
area (W × L ) is considered same for both the cases according to con­
stricted flow model [38]. The upper and lower walls are completely
(including both flat area and vertical sides of roughness) under constant
heat flux as mentioned earlier (Fig. 1), which means the actual heated
area ( A ) of both the channels (regular and hybrid roughness) is dif­
ferent and higher than the respective smooth channel. Therefore, Qa =
qA of both the channels are compared and r = 30 μm is 5.5 % higher
than r/r` = 30/15 μm. However, the Nuc of r = 30 μm is almost 22 %
higher than the r/r` = 30/15 μm (Rec = 150). Fig. 10(a) elaborates that
the difference of fc between the rough channels is nearly 15 % at Rec =
150, which indicates corresponding changes of flow field and this will
contribute to similar Nuc difference based on the concept of analogy.
Therefore, the difference of heat transfer is the combined effect of he­
ated surface area and flow field. The major rise is also happening be­
cause of flow filed and difference of roughness structures.
Fig. 10(c) shows that the performance index ( ) of r/r` = 30/15 μm
and r = 30 μm are 1.34 and 1.53, respectively, at Rec = 200, which
indicates that the (thermal) performances of rough channels are much
higher than those of the smooth channel. This is because of the higher
dominating effect of respective Nuc on the overall thermal performance.
However, the heated surface area of channels with r/r` = 30/15 μm
and r = 30 μm are 17.5 % and 22.8 % higher than the smooth channels,
respectively. This suggests that the increase in heat transfer (Nuc ) for
rough channels is dependent on both the heated surface area and flow
field.
Fig. 11(a) further, demonstrates that the velocity of flow (channel
with rectangular hybrid surface roughness) is higher at the center of the
channel and the flow velocity near the heated walls is lower as com­
pared with the channels of regular surface roughness (Fig. 11(b)). This
larger area of lower flow velocity (laminar sub-layer) with hybrid sur­
face roughness leads to higher flow velocities at the center due to the
same constricted diameter for both the rough channels. It also decreases
the convection near the wall and so does the heat transfer. However,
Fig. 11(b) shows that the shearing among the flow layers of channels
with the regular roughness is higher and consistent from rough walls to
the center of the channel, which leads to the effective transferring of
heat.
5. Conclusions
Thermal-hydraulic performances of microchannels structured with
rectangular surface roughness are investigated numerically in this
paper for laminar flow. The performances are assessed with the help of
constricted friction factor ( fc ) as well as Nusselt numbers (Nuc ). The
important findings are summarized as follows:

10
M.Q. Ansari and G. Zhou
• The effect of hybrid surface roughness (r /r = 30/15 μm) on the
performance of air flows improves with increasing Rec . The rise of
performance index ( ) from Rec = 50–250 is almost 16 %.
•
The performance index for water as working fluid decreases with
increasing Rec , because of respectively higher Nus values for smooth
channels. The drop of is almost 13 % from Rec = 50 to Rec = 250.
•
The microchannels with rectangular surface roughness give better
performance with increasing Reynolds number due to the higher
advection level. Eqs. (14) and (15) are developed by applying con­
stricted flow model for the estimation of fc and Nuc .
• The effect of different heated walls on friction factor is negligible;
but Nuc of two heated walls is almost 37 % higher than that of only
one heated wall (air flow) at Rec = 50.
• Thermal-hydraulic performance is also compared between the hy­
brid rectangular surface roughness and the regular (rectangular)
roughness with constant height (r = 30 μm) for air-flow. The fc
values of channel with r = 30 μm are slightly higher; but the overall
thermal-hydraulic performance is also high.
• The heat transfer improvements in both regular and hybrid rough­
ness microchannels by the rectangular surface roughness result from
not only the increased (heated) rough surface area but also the
modifications of flow field.
•
Microchannels with structured surface roughness can be an in­
novative way to improve the heat dissipation by considering the
suitable surface roughness configuration for electronic cooling.
Declaration of competing interest
There is no conflict of interest.
Authors and their contributions
This study is focused on the flow and heat transfer analysis of mi­
crochannels with structured rectangular surface roughness. For that re­
levant comparisons and analysis are done and discussed in detail. Detail
of authors and contributions are as followed,
Munib Qasim Ansari (the first author): Development of numerical
model, calculation and analysis of the calculated results, paper drafting.
Prof. Guobing Zhou (the second and corresponding author): Lead
guide of the research, main idea of the research, assessment of the re­
sults, conclusive findings, guidance for the paper drafting, final revision
of the paper.
Acknowledgments
This work is supported in part by Scientific Research Foundation for
the Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars, State Education Ministry (No.
2012940), Beijing Natural Science Foundation (No. 3192034) and
Foundation of Chinese Scholarship Council (No. 2016GXZ524).
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