Constructal Vascular Structures With High-Conductivity Inserts for Self-Cooling

Abstract

In this paper, we show how a heat-generating domain can be cooled with embedded cooling channels and high-conductivity inserts. The volume of cooling channels and high-conductivity inserts is fixed, so is the volume of the heat-generating domain. The maximum temperature in the domain decreases with high-conductivity inserts even though the coolant volume decreases. The locations and the shapes of high-conductivity inserts corresponding to the smallest peak temperatures for different number of inserts are documented, x = 0.6L and D/B = 0.11 with two rectangular inserts. We also document how the length scales of the inserts should be changed as the volume fraction of the coolant volume over the high-conductivity material volume varies. The high-conductivity inserts should be placed nonequidistantly in order to provide the smallest peak temperature in the heat-generating domain. In addition, increasing the number of the inserts after a limit increases the peak temperature, i.e., this limit is eight number of inserts for the given conditions and assumptions. This paper shows that the overall thermal conductance of a heat-generating domain can be increased by embedding high-conductivity material in the solid domain (inverted fins) when the domain is cooled with forced convection, and the summation of high-conductivity material volume and coolant volume is fixed.