Ph.D. Proposal
Waheed Bello
(Advisor: Prof. Kai James)
"Application Of Topology Optimization Methods To The Optimal Design Of High-Performance Heat Exchangers"
Friday, October 11th
10:00 a.m.
Montgomery-Knight Building, Room 317
Abstract
Heat exchangers are essential in aerospace applications, where effective thermal management is required for the reliability and performance of aircraft and spacecraft systems. These devices are required to be compact and lightweight while also operating under extreme environmental conditions. Topology optimization, which has successfully been applied to the design of efficient light weight structures, offers the potential to create heat exchangers with unconventional configurations that enhance overall system performance.
This research explores the application of topology optimization in designing high-performance heat exchangers. The proposed methodology is divided into three key stages. The first stage focuses the optimization of heat exchanger pipe configurations by integrating convolutional neural networks (CNN) and topology optimization, exploring how variations in inlet location and pipe sizes could enhance thermal efficiency. The second stage advances to a full-form design of a dual-flow 3D heat exchanger with arbitrary inlet conditions. This stage examines the additional efficiency gains through a combination of organic flow paths and flexible inlet configuration. The final stage extends the methodology to include turbulence modeling and additive manufacturing considerations, assessing the impact of fins on the heat exchanger performance.
The methodology utilizes both finite element and finite volume methods for the multiphysics analysis of the system, applying discrete and continuous adjoint formulations for sensitivity analysis respectively. The design objective is to optimize the thermal efficiency by maximizing the heat transfer rate under performance constraints, such as material stress distribution and power requirements. Successful completion of this research will facilitate the rapid design of high-performance heat exchangers across a wide range of applications.,
Committee
- Prof. Kai James – Department of Aerospace Engineering (advisor)
- Prof. Graeme Kennedy – Department of Aerospace Engineering
- Prof. Claudio Di Leo – Department of Aerospace Engineering