Application of metaheuristic algorithms in optimum thermal design analysis of a rectangular porous fin subjected to both insulated and convective tip conditions

Abstract

In this novel optimization analysis, a rectangular porous fin subjected to convective tip conditions along with insulated end condition is studied. The aim is to optimize the important variables responsible for transferring heat from fin with insulated as well as convective tip to the surrounding in order to get a higher rate of heat transfer from the fin surface. Temperature-dependent solid and fluid thermal conductivities as well as variable internal heat generation is considered. To obtain heat dissipation rate through porous fin, the nonlinear governing equation is first solved analytically using Adomian decomposition method. Then the heat transfer rate, i.e., objective function of this problem is optimized with three powerful metaheuristic techniques, namely firefly algorithm, particle swarm optimization and gravitational search algorithm. A comparative analysis has revealed that fins with convective end show significantly higher heat transfer rate compared to their insulated end counterparts. Particle swarm optimization showed marginally higher heat transfer values compared to firefly algorithm but firefly algorithm took less computational effort to reach the optimum value.