Heat dissipation/absorption

[Overconfidence]

This may or may not really be a regular water cooling question, but it has to do with liquid, so it should be fine =P.

I'm designing something with basically the use of a radiator that needs to have a flat side, and I need to know which of these four would be better for flow and heat absorption (because the water is running through them), or if straight channels would be better for both. The water is also able to run on top of them, because there's a gap between it and the top.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v644/Overconfidence/crosshatch2.jpg

http://img446.imageshack.us/img446/2475/crosshatch3rg.jpg (Full sized)

Thanks!

[J-Mag]

I am not a hydrologist, but I assume that you would need at least one more variable in this equation, like flow rate for instance.

Designs with increased surface area but decreased flow rate might not necissarily be better than the vice versa.

[Fairydust]

Dimensions and flow would help.

With high flow some of these designs would cause the coolant to shift upwards to the unrestricted top (depending how large the gab between top and bottom plate is), as this designs causes areas of flow restriction where the rhomb patterns widen up next to each other. In that case a redistibution of the rhomb pattern to form an even restriction might help. With low flow the restriction level will not rise enough to cause this effect.

Personally I like pattern 4 the most, although it uses a lot more material than 1 and 2.

[Overconfidence]

#1, 2, and 3 all have 1/8" channels going diagonally. in #1 they are going at 20 degrees, in #2 at 10 degrees, and in #3 at 5 degrees. These channels make the 'rhomb' shapes you see.

#4 uses 3/16" channels at 5 degrees each.

Hopefully you can understand what I'm saying =P. The design is etched in a 4"x10" piece, so what you're seeing is 4" wide total. Unfortunately, I'm not sure what the flow is intended to be.

Basically, the pattern is created by a bunch of intersecting channels.

[DuffMan]

Looks interesting, but how is the heat going to be removed from your radiator? Are you going to have fins or something on the outside? Or will it have the surface area alone to dissipate the heat from the water like some of the passive radiators that I have seen.

I really don't know for sure, but I think 4 might be to restrictive and will cause the water to flow mostly over the top. 1 and 2 looks to me like they should get better performance overall. Someone who knows the math correct me with a better Idea of hows all this work.

[Overconfidence]

Alright, thanks.

The back side of it (one you can't see) is covered by a huge heatsink with some TECs in the middle.

The amount of material used doesn't matter, because it'll be cut out using CNC or a lathe from a solid block.