Thermal management components often rely on periodic surface structures like gyroids to increase heat transfer, but existing design approaches face tradeoffs between manufacturability, pressure drop, and thermal performance. Specifically, as geometric features in thermal management approach the millimeter scale, flow paths become narrower and feature walls become thinner than conventional heat exchange equipment. Furthermore, fittings between supply and component piping introduce abrupt changes in the cross-sectional area of flow paths, leading to high local pressure differentials which are undesirable from a thermal uniformity perspective. The proposed innovation introduces a gradual growth of unit cells at a constant wall thickness allowing smooth transition of flow from small to large cross-sectional area and vice versa. The inherent scalability of the periodic surface allows the innovation to be leveraged in any length scale within the tolerance of advanced manufacturing techniques.
Description
Triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS) structures such as gyroids are widely studied for use in thermal management components, but traditional methods of improving their thermal performance by increasing heat transfer area primarily rely on rigid geometric refinement. These approaches are constrained by manufacturing tolerances and can unintentionally increase pressure drop, turbulence, and cost.
The proposed technology introduces a novel design methodology which enables local spatial variation within a gyroid structure while maintaining the same overall volume. Rather than uniformly shrinking or expanding repeating features, the approach allows controlled changes to internal topology across the structure. As a result, surface area can be substantially increased without relying on smaller characteristic length scales.
Thus, the method represents a new class of gyroid manipulation that can be extended to other TPMS-based structures. This flexibility enables designers to tailor their thermal performance while avoiding drawbacks associated with conventional state-of-the-art approaches.
Benefits
- Increased surface area within a fixed volume
- Reduced reliance on extreme geometric scaling
- Greater flexibility in thermal component design
- Compatibility with existing manufacturing approaches
Applications and Industries
- Thermal management components
- Heat exchange systems
- Advanced manufacturing and materials design
- Industrial processing equipment
Contact
To learn more about this technology, email [email protected] or call 865-574-1051.
Contact
To learn more about this technology, email [email protected] or call 865-574-1051.