Experimental and numerical investigation of liquid-cooled heat sinks designed by topology optimization

In order to study the relationship between the thermal-hydraulic performances and the layout of cooling channels designed by topology optimization from the engineering perspective, two types of topology optimization problems are studied. The first is the flow distribution problem that is to achieve the minimization of power dissipation under the flow rate quality constraints, and the second is the heat exchange maximization problem that is to achieve the optimal thermal performances under the constant input power constraint. Then the optimized heat sinks together with a conventional S-shaped channel heat sinks are manufactured and their thermal-hydraulic performances are investigated both numerically and experimentally. The results reveal that the flow distribution design can provide the lowest hydraulic resistance while the heat exchange maximization design can keep the thermal resistance to a minimum. The proposed design method can be used as a tool to provide cooling solutions to the thermal management of high heat flux electronic components.