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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Topology optimized design and performance analysis of heat sinks under forced convection

Abstract

dc:description

The performance of existing heat sink designs is limited by the restrictions of manufacturing processes. The efficiency of heat sinks can be drastically improved by optimizing their design using topology optimization. This thesis presents a novel approach for generating heat sink designs aimed at maximizing heat transfer while optimizing the feature sizes with respect to prominent manufacturing techniques. This is implemented by including a technique to modify the optimization to account for the limitations imposed by the manufacturing techniques, especially the minimum feature size constraints. The analysis is performed through the minimization of a linear weighted multi-objective function comprising conduction and forced convection via airflow, as well as a penalizing factor. In the design domain, topology optimization is carried out by the Solid Isotropic Material with Penalization (SIMP) method. Optimization is implemented through the Finite Element method using the Method of Moving Asymptotes (MMA) and Helmholtz filtering. The resulting designs are compared with a conventional plate-fin heat sink to analyze the improvement in performance. The variation in design and performance of the optimized design, under variation of optimization constraints, is also evaluated.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
M.S.
Level thesis:degree_level
Thesis
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Aerospace Engineering
Grantor
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Year dc:date
2023

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Vijayamohanan, Sankar Vijay
Contributors dc:contributor
  • Jasiuk, Iwona

Subjects

dc:subject × 5

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • Copyright 2023 Sankar Vijay Vijayamohanan All rights reserved. This work is protected under the copyright laws of United States of America. The author grants permission for this document to be downloaded, printed, and/or reproduced in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and no commercial use or alteration is made. Unauthorized use, reproduction, or distribution of this work may violate copyright laws and result in legal action. For permissions and other inquiries, please contact the author at sankarv2@illinois.edu.
Language dc:language
en, eng

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Handle dc:identifier
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/120176

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
Base URL
www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Vijayamohanan, Sankar Vijay. Topology optimized design and performance analysis of heat sinks under forced convection. Thesis thesis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2023. https://hdl.handle.net/2142/120176