Enhanced convective heat transfer in new triply periodic minimal surface structures: Numerical and experimental investigation

Abstract

Triply Periodic Minimal Surfaces (TPMS) structures are increasingly recognized for their potential in thermal management due to their unique repetitive and interconnected minimal surfaces. However, a major challenge lies in enhancing the convective heat transfer performance of TPMS structures. This study introduces new TPMS designs and evaluates their thermal characteristics against established structures such as Diamond, Gyroid, SplitP, and Lidinoid employing a combination of numerical simulations and experimental measurements. The results reveal that the newly TPMS designs significantly outperform existing ones in terms of heat transfer performance. Numerically, the new TPMS structures demonstrate improvements in the Nusselt number and convective heat transfer coefficient, ranging from 6% to 13.7% and 4.6% to 20%, surpassing Lidinoid and SplitP, and eclipsing Diamond and Gyroid by 15% to 58% and 37% to 91%, respectively. Experimentally, these findings are complemented with the newly TPMS structures showing increases in convective heat transfer coefficients up to 68% and a 57% rise in Nusselt numbers compared to the Gyroid structure. These enhancements are attributed to their larger fluid-solid contact areas and optimized fluid distribution. However, a trade-off is observed in the form of increased pressure drops in the more complex TPMS structures, particularly in structures with larger circumferences and periodicities. The study also highlights the complex dynamic flow patterns within these structures, establishing a direct link between design complexity and fluid dynamics. This interconnectedness is pivotal for future design optimizations aimed at improving thermal performance. These findings represent a significant step forward in TPMS research, paving the way for further investigations into optimizing these structures for superior heat transfer performance.