Design Optimization of Heat Transfer and Fluidic Devices by Using Additive Manufacturing

Abstract

After the development of additive manufacturing technology in the 1980s, it has found use in many applications like aerospace, automotive, marine, machinery, consumer and electronic applications. In recent time, few researchers have worked on the applications of additive manufacturing for heat transfer and fluidic devices. As the world has seen a drastic increase in population in last decades which have put stress on already scarce energy resources, optimization of energy devices which include energy storing devices, heat transfer devices, energy capturing devices etc. is need for the hour. Design of energy devices is often constrained by manufacturing constraints thus current design of energy devices is not an optimized one. In this research we want to conceptualize, design and manufacture optimized heat transfer and fluidic devices by exploiting the advantages provided by additive manufacturing. We want to benefit from the fact that very intricate geometry and desired surface finish can be obtained by using additive manufacturing. Additionally, we want to compare the efficacy of our designed device with conventional devices. Work on usage of Additive manufacturing for increasing efficiency of heat transfer devices can be found in the literature. We want to extend this approach to other heat transfer devices especially tubes with internal flow. By optimizing the design of energy systems we hope to solve current energy shortage and help conserve energy for future generation.We will also extend the application of additive manufacturing technology to fabricate "device for uniform flow distribution".