The primary purpose of this investigation was to experimentally determine the effect of operational parameters on the onset of flow instability (OFI) in narrow, uniformly heated, vertical, rectangular channels. The geometry investigated was a 9.0 cm long rectangular channel with a 1.0mm by 1.3cm cross section. This geometry closely matches the coolant channel geometry in an accelerator target. Nitrogen-saturated subcooled water was used as the coolant, with mass fluxes ranging from 250 to 1336 kg/m^2 s, and an inlet temperature of 26ºC for the OFI experiments. The exit pressures investigated ranged from 275kPa to 620kPa, while the heat flux ranged from 0.729 to 2.236 MW/m^2. The primary data collected from these experiments were used to develop two correlations for the heat flux and mass flux at OFI. Wall temperature data were also collected in order to develop a Nusselt number correlation for the single-phase regime. This correlation is valid for the Reynolds number range of 6x103 to 1.7x104. The data obtained in this investigation will aid designers of high-power-density systems establish design limits to prevent over heating and possible damage due to the onset of flow instability. The data obtained in this investigation will aid designers of high-power-density systems establish design limits to prevent over heating and possible damage due to the onset of flow instability.

Doubling transistor count for every two years in a computer chip, transmitter and receiver (T/R) module of a phased-array antenna that demands higher power with smaller dimensions are all results of miniaturization in electronics packaging. These technologies nowadays depend on improvement of reliable high performance heat sink to perform in narrower volumes. Employing microchannels or open cell metal foam heat sinks are two recently developing promising methods of cooling high heat fluxes. Although recent studies especially on microchannels can give a rough estimate on performances of these two methods, since using metal foams as heat sinks is still needed further studies, a direct experimental comparison of heat exchanger performances of these two techniques is still needed especially for thermal design engineers to decide the method of cooling. For this study, microchannels with channel widths of 300 &micro / m, 420 &micro / m, 500 &micro / m and 900 &micro / m were produced. Also, 92% porous 10, 20 and 40 ppi 6101-T6 open cell aluminum metal foams with compression factors 1,2, and 3 that have the same finned volume of microchannels with exactly same dimensions were used to manufacture heat sinks with method of vacuum brazing. They all have tested under same conditions with volumetric flow rate ranging from 0,167 l/min to 1,33 l/min and 60 W of heat power. Channel height was 4 mm for all heat sinks and distilled water used as cooling fluid. After experiments, pressure drops and thermal resistances were compared with tabulated and graphical forms. Also, the use of metal foam and microchannel heat sinks were highlighted with their advantages and disadvantages for future projects.