Study on Vertical Flow Distribution Non-Uniformity in Enclosed Cold Aisle Cabinets of Data Centers

GUO Haobo; TAO Wenquan

doi:10.7652/xjtuxb202511008

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Study on Vertical Flow Distribution Non-Uniformity in Enclosed Cold Aisle Cabinets of Data Centers

Special Topic Energy Saving and Low-Carbon Technologies in Data Centers | 更新时间：2025-11-11

- Study on Vertical Flow Distribution Non-Uniformity in Enclosed Cold Aisle Cabinets of Data Centers
- Journal of Xi'an Jiaotong University Vol. 59, Issue 11, Pages: 84-94(2025)
- 作者机构：
- 作者简介：
- 基金信息：
- DOI：10.7652/xjtuxb202511008
  CLC： TK121
- Received：25 March 2025，
  
  Published：10 November 2025
- 稿件说明：
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GUO Haobo, TAO Wenquan. Study on Vertical Flow Distribution Non-Uniformity in Enclosed Cold Aisle Cabinets of Data Centers[J]. Journal of Xi'an Jiaotong University, 2025, 59(11): 84-94.
DOI：

GUO Haobo, TAO Wenquan. Study on Vertical Flow Distribution Non-Uniformity in Enclosed Cold Aisle Cabinets of Data Centers[J]. Journal of Xi'an Jiaotong University, 2025, 59(11): 84-94. DOI： 10.7652/xjtuxb202511008.

摘要

为探究不同封闭冷通道参数与机柜流动特性对数据中心机柜冷却气流分配的影响，针对封闭冷通道场景构建了二维流动模型，并系统研究了不同流动阻力和机柜流动特性下冷却气流在机柜中的分布趋势。二维模型位于平行于机柜入口的平面，控制方程中采用基于机柜流动特性的负源项来描述穿过机柜的气流。对不同冷通道参数和机柜流动特性的仿真结果表明，当冷通道内流动阻力占主导时，气流更多地集中于机柜底部，顶部更易形成热点；当冷通道内流动由惯性主导时，顶部流量更大，热点则更易出现在底部。机柜流动特性曲线越陡峭，越有助于提升气流在竖直方向的分布均匀性。针对一个实际机房冷通道尺寸的算例开展二维建模仿真，发现适当提高封闭冷通道内的流动阻力可以降低流量分布不均匀性指标（FUI）的极值

FUI

到基线工况的83.0%；通过提高服务器内的流动阻力，优化其流动特性曲线（使其更陡峭），可以将

FUI

降低至基线工况的55.4%。该研究为量化评估封闭冷通道参数与机柜流动特性对流量不均匀性的改善效果提供了

参考。

Abstract

To investigate the influence of different enclosed cold aisle parameters and cabinet flow characteristics on the cooling airflow distribution in data center cabinets

a two-dimensional flow model suitable for enclosed cold aisle scenarios is proposed. The model systematically examines the distribution trends of cooling airflow in cabinets under varying flow resistances and cabinet flow characteristics. The two-dimensional model is located on a plane parallel to the cabinet inlet

and a negative source term based on cabinet flow characteristics is introduced in the governing equations to describe the airflow passing through the cabinets. Simulation results for different cold aisle parameters and cabinet flow characteristics reveal that when flow resistance dominates in the cold aisle

airflow tends to concentrate at the bottom of the cabinets

increasing the risk of hotspots at the top. Conversely

when inertia dominates the flow in the cold aisle

more airflow is directed toward the top

leading to potential hotspots at the bottom. Steeper cabinet flow characteristic curves contribute to improved vertical airflow distribution uniformity. A twodimensional simulation of an actual data center cold aisle configuration demonstrates that appropriately increasing the flow resistance in the enclosed cold aisle can reduce the range of the flow uniformity index (FUI) to 83.0% of the baseline scenario. Additionally

increasing the flow resistance within the servers to steepen their flow characteristic curves further reduces the FUI range to 55.4% of the baseline scenario. This study provides a quantitative reference for evaluating the impact of enclosed cold aisle parameters and cabinet flow characteristics on improving flow distribution uniformity.

关键词

Keywords

references

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