Topology Optimization, Additive Layer Manufacturing, and Experimental Testing of an Air-Cooled Heat Sink

Topology optimization of an air-cooled heat sink considering heat conduction plus side-surface convection is presented. The optimization formulation is explained along with multiple design examples. A postprocessing procedure is described to synthesize manifold or “water-tight” solid model computer-aided design (CAD) geometry from three-dimensional (3D) point-cloud data extracted from the optimization result. Using this process, a heat sink is optimized for confined jet impingement air cooling. A prototype structure is fabricated out of AlSi12 using additive layer manufacturing (ALM). The heat transfer and fluid flow performance of the optimized heat sink are experimentally evaluated, and the results are compared with benchmark plate and pin-fin heat sink geometries that are conventionally machined out of aluminum and copper. In two separate test cases, the experimental results indicate that the optimized ALM heat sink design has a higher coefficient of performance (COP) relative to the benchmark heat sink designs.

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