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Data from: Acoustic signatures of two-phase flows in a microchannel heat sink

Pierson, Stephen1; Pandey, Hari1; Xu, Ben2; Hu, Han1

Published Jun 01, 2026 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.kwh70rzm3

Data files

Jun 01, 2026 version files 519.96 MB

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Abstract

Flow boiling in microchannel heat sinks is promising for next-generation electronics cooling but it implementation is limited by the associated interfacial instabilities, flow oscillations, vapor choking, and local dryout. Existing diagnostics for two-phase flows primarily rely on optical visualization and temperature/pressure measurements, which lack the capability for real-time detection of transient flow events in compact or visually inaccessible systems. This work investigates the use of acoustic emission (AE) sensing as a nonintrusive diagnostic tool for identifying phase-change events and characterizing two-phase flow behavior in a microchannel heat sink. A multimodal experimental facility integrating synchronized acoustic emission sensing, microphone measurements, thermofluidic measurements, and optical imaging was developed for flow boiling experiments under controlled heating conditions. Representative experiments comparing single-phase flow and two-phase flow conditions demonstrate that the onset of boiling produces substantial increases in AE amplitude and AE hit rate. The results suggest that acoustic sensing can provide a sensitive indicator of bubble nucleation, vapor transport, and transient interfacial dynamics in confined boiling flows. The presented framework sets a foundation for future development of physics-informed acoustic diagnostics and machine-learning-assisted monitoring of two-phase thermal management systems.