Optimal design and thermal modelling for liquid-cooled heat sink based on multi-objective topology optimization: An experimental and numerical study.

This work presents a method of designing liquid-cooled heat sink based on topology optimization. First, a multi-objective optimization problem is developed in order to manage the tradeoff between the minimization of fluid power dissipation and the maximization of heat exchange. The novel cooling channels with clear topology information are generated under both uniform single heat and the non-uniform multiple heat load conditions. The effects of initial guess, weighting factor, and Reynolds number on the Pareto optimal solutions are discussed. Next, a full scale 3D conjugate heat transfer numerical simulation model is built to test the flow and thermal performances of the heat sinks. The results show that the optimized cooling channel can achieve a lower thermal resistance and a higher Nusselts number in comparison to the conventional parallel channel. Lastly, the high performance of TO design is validated by conducting experimental tests. • Multi-objective topology optimization is applied to design liquid-cooled heat sinks. • Effects of initial guess, Re, weighting factors on Pareto optimum are discussed. • A detailed thermal analysis is conducted both numerically and experimentally. • Topology optimized designs are successfully benchmarked against parallel channel. This work suggests a design method of liquid-cooled heat sink based on topology optimization. First, a multi-objective optimization problem is developed in order to manage the tradeoff between the minimization of fluid power dissipation and the maximization of heat exchange. The novel cooling channels with clear topology information are generated under both single-uniform and the multiple-non uniform heat source conditions. The effects of initial guess, weighting factor, and Reynolds number on the Pareto optimal solutions are discussed. Next, a full scale 3D conjugate heat transfer numerical model is built to test the flow and thermal performances of the heat sinks. The results show that the optimized cooling channel can achieve a lower thermal resistance and a higher Nusselts number in comparison to the conventional parallel channel, which means the optimal channel can remove more heat energy while the pumping power supply is minimum. Finally, both traditional parallel and topology optimized channel are manufactured by CNC machine and the high performance of the optimally designed heat sink is validated by conducting experimental tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]