Experimental Investigation of Ionic Wind Cooling In Plate Fin Heatsinks and Needle Electrode Arrangements

An ionic wind is established when air ions are accelerated by an electric field, which creates an air flow between two electrodes. Because ionic winds can generate flow with no moving parts they are more resilient and silent, and they also have low power consumption. They offer an attractive method for enhancing convective heat transfer from a surface. In the present article, two ionic wind cooling configurations are studied. The first case is a fundamental study of an ionic jet impinging a horizontal plate $(Gr\approx 7.6 x 10^{5},\mathrm{N}_{u}\approx-115)$. Because of the competition between the buoyant flow and the ionic wind, different regimes are observed and characterized as a function of $Gr/Re_{EHD}^{2}$. The second configuration corresponds to the applied use of ionic wind to cool a vertical fin heat sink by an array of needle electrodes. Two regimes were observed and characterized as a function of $Gr/Re_{EHD^{2}}$. In both configurations, it was found that the cooling was enhanced up to at least 100% by the ionic wind.