Topology design of two-fluid heat exchange

In this paper we consider the topology optimization for a bipolar plate of a hydrogen electrolysis cell. We present a model for the bipolar plate using the Stokes equation with an additional drag term, which models the influence of fluid and solid regions. Furthermore, we derive a criterion for a uniform flow distribution in the bipolar plate. To obtain shapes that are well-manufacturable, we introduce a novel smoothing technique for the fluid velocity. Finally, we present so...

Fluid-flow devices with low dissipation, but high contact area, are of importance in many applications. A well-known strategy to design such devices is multi-scale topology optimization (MTO), where optimal microstructures are designed within each cell of a discretized domain. Unfortunately, MTO is computationally very expensive since one must perform homogenization of the evolving microstructures, during each step of the homogenization process. As an alternate, we propose he...

The application of modern topology optimization techniques to single physics systems has seen great advances in the last three decades. However, the application of these tools to sophisticated multiphysics systems such as fluid-structure interactions is still lagging behind, mainly due to the multidisciplinary and complex nature of such systems. In this work, we implement topology optimization of high-fidelity, fully-coupled fluid-structure interaction problems with large def...

In recent years, new methods have been developed to synthesize complex porous and micro-structured geometry in a variety of ways. In this work, we take these approaches one step further and present these methods as an efficacious design paradigm. Specifically, complex micro-structure geometry can be synthesized while optimizing certain properties such as maximal heat exchange in heat exchangers, or minimal weight under stress specifications. By being able to adjust the geomet...

As power generated from renewables becomes more readily available, the need for power-efficient energy storage devices, such as redox flow batteries, becomes critical for successful integration of renewables into the electrical grid. An important component in a redox flow battery is the planar flow field, which is usually composed of two-dimensional channels etched into a backing plate. As reactant-laden electrolyte flows into the flow battery, the channels in the flow field ...

This paper implements topology optimization on two-dimensional manifolds. In this paper, the material interpolation is implemented on a material parameter in the partial differential equation used to describe a physical field, when this physical field is defined on a two-dimensional manifold; the material density is used to formulate a mixed boundary condition of the physical field and implement the penalization between two different types of boundary conditions, when this ph...

This paper extends the nonsmooth Relaxed Variational Approach (RVA) to topology optimization, proposed by the authors in a preceding work, to the solution of thermal optimization problems. First, the RVA topology optimization method is briefly discussed and, then, it is applied to a set of representative problems in which the thermal compliance, the deviation of the heat flux from a given field and the average temperature are minimized. For each optimization problem, the rela...

This paper studies the characteristics and applicability of the CutFEM approach as the core of a robust topology optimization framework for 3D laminar incompressible flow and species transport problems at low Reynolds number (Re < 200). CutFEM is a methodology for discretizing partial differential equations on complex geometries by immersed boundary techniques. In this study, the geometry of the fluid domain is described by an explicit level set method, where the parameters o...

As modern electronic devices are increasingly miniaturized and integrated, their performance relies more heavily on effective thermal management. Two-phase cooling methods enhanced by porous surfaces, which capitalize on thin-film evaporation atop structured porous surfaces, are emerging as potential solutions. In such porous structures, the optimum heat dissipation capacity relies on two competing objectives that depend on mass and heat transfer. The computational costs of e...

An efficient topology optimization method applicable to both continuum and rarefied gas flows is proposed in the framework of gas-kinetic theory. The areas of gas and solid are marked by the material density, based on which a fictitious porosity model is used to reflect the effect of the solid on the gas and mimic the diffuse boundary condition on the gas-solid interface. The formula of this fictitious porosity model is modified to make the model work well in all flow regimes...