scholarly journals Thermomechanical Topology Optimization of Lattice Heat Transfer Structure Including Natural Convection and Design Dependent Heat Source

Author(s):  
Tong Wu ◽  
Joel C. Najmon ◽  
Andres Tovar

Abstract Lattice Heat Transfer (LHT) structures provide superior structural support while improving the heat transfer coefficient through their high surface-to-volume ratios. By using current Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies, LHT with highly complex structures is possible. In this study, the design concept of LHT is further improved by implementing a thermomechanical topology optimization method. With utilization of design-dependent heat source, the method can be applied to generate stiffer LHT structures under mechanical and thermomechanical loads, without decreasing their thermal performance; relative to a design made of a uniform LHT having the same mass fraction. Two numerical examples are presented to illustrate how to use the proposed approach to design LHT sections. The results show that the mechanical performance can be improved more than 50% compared to a uniform LHT with the same mass fraction, without decreasing the thermal performance. The method does not require a fluid mechanics model, thus it is computational effective and particularly suitable for the conceptual design stage. The resulting optimized lattice is made possible by utilizing additive manufacturing technologies.

Author(s):  
Si Y. Lee

The Nuclear Nonproliferation Programs Design Authority is in the design stage of the Waste Solidification Building (WSB) for the treatment and solidification of the radioactive liquid waste streams generated by the Pit Disassembly and Conversion Facility (PDCF) and Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF). The waste streams will be mixed with a cementitious dry mix in a 55-gallon waste container. Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) has been performing the testing and evaluations to support technical decisions for the WSB. Engineering Modeling & Simulation Group was requested to evaluate the thermal performance of the 55-gallon drum containing hydration heat source associated with the current baseline cement waste form. A transient axi-symmetric heat transfer model for the drum partially filled with waste form cement has been developed and heat transfer calculations performed for the baseline design configurations. For this case, 65 percent of the drum volume was assumed to be filled with the waste form, which has transient hydration heat source, as one of the baseline conditions. A series of modeling calculations has been performed using a computational heat transfer approach. The baseline modeling results show that the time to reach the maximum temperature of the 65 percent filled drum is about 32 hours when a 43°C initial cement temperature is assumed to be cooled by natural convection with 27°C external air. In addition, the results computed by the present model were compared with analytical solutions. The modeling results will be benchmarked against the prototypic test results. The verified model will be used for the evaluation of the thermal performance for the WSB drum. Detailed results and the cases considered in the calculations will be discussed here.


Author(s):  
Kathryn L. Kirsch ◽  
Karen A. Thole

The increased design space offered by additive manufacturing can inspire unique ideas and different modeling approaches. One tool for generating complex yet effective designs is found in numerical optimization schemes, but until relatively recently, the capability to physically produce such a design had been limited by manufacturing constraints. In this study, a commercial adjoint optimization solver was used in conjunction with a conventional flow solver to optimize the design of wavy microchannels, the end use of which can be found in gas turbine airfoil skin cooling schemes. Three objective functions were chosen for two baseline wavy channel designs: minimize the pressure drop between channel inlet and outlet, maximize the heat transfer on the channel walls and maximize the ratio between heat transfer and pressure drop. The optimizer was successful in achieving each objective and generated significant geometric variations from the baseline study. The optimized channels were additively manufactured using Direct Metal Laser Sintering and printed reasonably true to the design intent. Experimental results showed that the high surface roughness in the channels prevented the objective to minimize pressure loss from being fulfilled. However, where heat transfer was to be maximized, the optimized channels showed a corresponding increase in Nusselt number.


Author(s):  
Cunfu Wang ◽  
Xiaoping Qian ◽  
William D. Gerstler ◽  
Jeff Shubrooks

This paper studies how to control boundary slope of optimized parts in density-based topology optimization for additive manufacturing (AM). Boundary slope of a part affects the amount of support structure required during its fabrication by additive processes. Boundary slope also has a direct relation with the resulting surface roughness from the AM processes, which in turn affects the heat transfer efficiency. By constraining the minimal boundary slope, support structures can be eliminated or reduced for AM, and thus, material and postprocessing costs are reduced; by constraining the maximal boundary slope, high-surface roughness can be attained, and thus, the heat transfer efficiency is increased. In this paper, the boundary slope is controlled through a constraint between the density gradient and the given build direction. This allows us to explicitly control the boundary slope through density gradient in the density-based topology optimization approach. We control the boundary slope through two single global constraints. An adaptive scheme is also proposed to select the thresholds of these two boundary slope constraints. Numerical examples of linear elastic problem, heat conduction problem, and thermoelastic problems demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed formulation in controlling boundary slopes for additive manufacturing. Experimental results from metal 3D printed parts confirm that our boundary slope-based formulation is effective for controlling part self-support during printing and for affecting surface roughness of the printed parts.


2020 ◽  
Vol 143 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph R. Kubalak ◽  
Alfred L. Wicks ◽  
Christopher B. Williams

Abstract The layer-by-layer deposition process used in material extrusion (ME) additive manufacturing results in inter- and intra-layer bonds that reduce the mechanical performance of printed parts. Multi-axis (MA) ME techniques have shown potential for mitigating this issue by enabling tailored deposition directions based on loading conditions in three dimensions (3D). Planning deposition paths leveraging this capability remains a challenge, as an intelligent method for assigning these directions does not exist. Existing literature has introduced topology optimization (TO) methods that assign material orientations to discrete regions of a part by simultaneously optimizing material distribution and orientation. These methods are insufficient for MA–ME, as the process offers additional freedom in varying material orientation that is not accounted for in the orientation parameterizations used in those methods. Additionally, optimizing orientation design spaces is challenging due to their non-convexity, and this issue is amplified with increased flexibility; the chosen orientation parameterization heavily impacts the algorithm’s performance. Therefore, the authors (i) present a TO method to simultaneously optimize material distribution and orientation with considerations for 3D material orientation variation and (ii) establish a suitable parameterization of the orientation design space. Three parameterizations are explored in this work: Euler angles, explicit quaternions, and natural quaternions. The parameterizations are compared using two benchmark minimum compliance problems, a 2.5D Messerschmitt–Bölkow–Blohm beam and a 3D Wheel, and a multi-loaded structure undergoing (i) pure tension and (ii) three-point bending. For the Wheel, the presented algorithm demonstrated a 38% improvement in compliance over an algorithm that only allowed planar orientation variation. Additionally, natural quaternions maintain the well-shaped design space of explicit quaternions without the need for unit length constraints, which lowers computational costs. Finally, the authors present a path toward integrating optimized geometries and material orientation fields resulting from the presented algorithm with MA–ME processes.


Author(s):  
Shinjan Ghosh ◽  
Jayanta S. Kapat

Abstract Gas Turbine blade cooling is an important topic of research, as a high turbine inlet temperature (TIT) essentially means an increase in efficiency of gas turbine cycles. Internal cooling channels in gas turbine blades are key to the cooling and prevention of thermal failure of the material. Serpentine channels are a common feature in internal blade cooling. Optimization methods are often employed in the design of blade internal cooling channels to improve heat-transfer and reduce pressure drop. Topology optimization uses a variable porosity approach to manipulate flow geometries by adding or removing material. Such a method has been employed in the current work to modify the geometric configuration of a serpentine channel to improve total heat transferred and reduce the pressure drop. An in-house OpenFOAM solver has been used to create non-traditional geometries from two generic designs. Geometry-1 is a 2-D serpentine passage with an inlet and 4 bleeding holes as outlets for ejection into the trailing edge. Geometry-2 is a 3-D serpentine passage with an aspect ratio of 3:1 and consists of two 180-degree bends. The inlet velocity for both the geometries was used as 20 m/s. The governing equations employ a “Brinkman porosity parameter” to account for the porous cells in the flow domain. Results have shown a change in shape of the channel walls to enhance heat-transfer in the passage. Additive manufacturing can be employed to make such unconventional shapes.


Author(s):  
J. H. Choi ◽  
B. H. Sung ◽  
J. H. Yoo ◽  
C. J. Kim ◽  
D.-A. Borca-Tasciuc

The implementation of high power density, multicore central and graphic processing units (CPUs and GPUs) coupled with higher clock rates of the high-end computing hardware requires enhanced cooling technologies able to attend high heat fluxes while meeting strict design constrains associated with system volume and weight. Miniature loop heat pipes (mLHP) emerge as one of the technologies best suited to meet all these demands. Nonetheless, operational problems, such as instable behavior during startup on evaporator side, have stunted the advent of commercialization. This paper investigates experimentally two types of mLHP systems designed for workstation CPUs employing disk shaped and rectangular evaporators, respectively. Since there is a strong demand for miniaturization in commercial applications, emphasis was also placed on physical size during the design stage of the new systems. One of the mLHP system investigated here is demonstrated to have an increased thermal performance at a reduced system weight. Specifically, it is shown that the system can reach a maximum heat transfer rate of 170 W with an overall thermal resistance of 0.12 K/W. The corresponding heat flux is 18.9 W/cm2, approximately 30% higher than that of larger size commercial systems. The studies carried out here also suggest that decreasing the thermal resistance between the heat source and the working fluid and maximizing the area for heat transfer are keys for obtaining an enhanced thermal performance.


2015 ◽  
Vol 137 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Min-Suk Kong ◽  
Kun Yu ◽  
Jorge L. Alvarado ◽  
Wilson Terrell

An experimental study has been carried out to investigate the convective heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of microencapsulated phase change material (MPCM) slurry in a coil heat exchanger (CHX). The thermal and fluid properties of the MPCM slurries were determined using a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and a rotating drum viscometer, respectively. The overall heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop of slurries at 4.6% and 8.7% mass fractions were measured using an instrumented CHX. A friction factor correlation for MPCM slurry in the CHX has been developed in terms of Dean number and mass fraction of the MPCM. The effects of flow velocity and mass fraction of MPCM slurry on thermal performance have been analyzed by taking into account heat exchanger effectiveness and the performance efficiency coefficient (PEC). The experimental results showed that using MPCM slurry should improve the overall performance of a conventional CHX, even though the MPCM slurries are characterized by having high viscosity.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Shijie Dai ◽  
Miao Gong ◽  
Liwen Wang ◽  
Tao Wang

Heat input is a crucial factor affecting the quality in blade additive manufacturing repairing. First, a moving heat source model was established, and through numerical analysis and experimental comparison, the optimal geometric parameters of the heat source model for ultrathin blade repair were obtained. Second, a heat transfer model is established based on the optimal heat source model. By analyzing the thermophysical properties of different alloys, the heat input range of the blade was calculated. By heat transfer calculation under different heat inputs, the heat transfer model of blade repair was optimized. Then, a mathematical model of additive height is established. The optimized heat transfer model is used to solve the temperature distribution of the additive section with time under different wire feeding speeds through numerical analysis, which further reduced the heat input range. Third, the experiments are carried out based on the results of numerical analysis. The evolution law of the microstructure and heat input rate of the additive manufacturing zone was revealed, and the optimal heat input parameters were obtained. Under the optimal parameters, the segregation zone disappeared; hence, the test data were close to the base metal, and the additive manufacturing zone achieved better quality. The results and methods are of great guiding significance for the optimization design in additive manufacturing repair of the aero blades. The study also contributes to carrying out a series of research on heat transfer of ultrathin nickel-based alloy welding.


Author(s):  
Shinjan Ghosh ◽  
Jayanta S. Kapat

Abstract High aspect ratio channels are a common internal cooling feature in Gas Turbine blades, mostly suitable for the trailing edge region or mid-chord regions. Traditionally such channels are fitted with rib-turbulators and/or pin-fin turbulators to augment heat transfer and prevent material failure. Highly efficient internal cooling of blades can improve the efficiency of a real Gas Turbine power cycle by tolerating higher Turbine Inlet Temperatures (TIT). Multi-physics Topology optimization (TO) has been employed in the current study to find optimized shape of these ducts, with an aim to increase heat transfer, while constraining the pressure drop across the channel. This method, commonly used in structural problems, is a novel topic of research when applied to fluid-thermal studies. Material distribution in the computational domain is varied by changing porosity value in each cell and thereby altering the fluid path and creating a conjugate heat transfer problem. Each cell has a value of Brinkmann porosity factor which either simulates a blockage, or a fluid region depending on a low or high value of this design variable. Hence the degree of freedom is high in this method, and there is no manual bias introduced, unlike in parametric shape optimization which is limited to a few design parameters. The unconventional geometries obtained as an end product of this optimization process can thus be an alternative to existing rib/pin-fin type of cooling geometries. The recent progress in additive manufacturing can now facilitate the manufacturing of complicated shapes. An in-house Open-FOAM solver has been used to carry out the process in only twice the amount of time compared to a regular RANS-CFD. 3-Dimensional rectangular channels with inlet aspect ratios of 4:1 and 8:1 have been considered as baselines with a constant inlet velocity. Resulting optimum geometries were found to have organic tree like branching arrangements of rib-like wall roughness and v-shaped structures.


2017 ◽  
Vol 140 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn L. Kirsch ◽  
Karen A. Thole

The increased design space offered by additive manufacturing (AM) can inspire unique ideas and different modeling approaches. One tool for generating complex yet effective designs is found in numerical optimization schemes, but until relatively recently, the capability to physically produce such a design had been limited by manufacturing constraints. In this study, a commercial adjoint optimization solver was used in conjunction with a conventional flow solver to optimize the design of wavy microchannels, the end use of which can be found in gas turbine airfoil skin cooling schemes. Three objective functions were chosen for two baseline wavy channel designs: minimize the pressure drop between channel inlet and outlet, maximize the heat transfer on the channel walls, and maximize the ratio between heat transfer and pressure drop. The optimizer was successful in achieving each objective and generated significant geometric variations from the baseline study. The optimized channels were additively manufactured using direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) and printed reasonably true to the design intent. Experimental results showed that the high surface roughness in the channels prevented the objective to minimize pressure loss from being fulfilled. However, where heat transfer was to be maximized, the optimized channels showed a corresponding increase in Nusselt number.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document