Geometric Optimisation of Forced Convection in Cooling Channels With Internal Heat Generation

This paper presents a three dimensional geometric optimization of cooling channels in forced convection with internal heat generation within the solid. Three configurations were studied, circular channels, square channels and rectangular channels with different porosities. The configurations were optimized in such a way that the peak temperature is minimum. The optimization is subject to the constraint of fixed volume and solid material. The fluid is forced through the channels by the pressure difference across the channels. The structure has two degrees of freedom as design variables: channel hydraulic diameter and channel-to-channel spacing. The results obtained show the behaviour of the applied pressure drop on the optimized geometry. Results also show that as pressure drop increases the minimized peak temperature decreases.