TY - JOUR
T1 - Enabling cross-morphological performance comparison: A case study in heat management design
AU - Fischer, Thomas
AU - Bissoonauth, Chitraj
AU - Haowen, Liang
AU - Jiaming, Bai
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Authors
PY - 2024/3
Y1 - 2024/3
N2 - Cross-morphological performance comparisons in mechanical engineering design may well resemble comparisons of apples and oranges. They are meaningful only if pertinent properties shared across compared morphologies (so-called tertia comparationis) are identified, and equity with regard to these properties is established. This article demonstrates such an approach with the use of parametric geometry modeling, optimization, and additive manufacturing, enabling a thermal performance comparison of different heat sink morphologies, using both steady-state numerical simulation and experimental evaluation, by establishing equity across the compared heat sinks in terms of (thermal) mass. Limitations in additive manufacturing precision, as well as inconsistencies between numerical simulation and experimental evaluation results, were encountered in this case study. Likely resulting from the heat sinks’ thermal properties on the additive manufacturing process and the simulation environment's disproportionate reliance on convection surface area, these limitations and inconsistencies will likely diminish as additive manufacturing and numerical simulation technologies improve. The cross-morphological comparison approach presented here is shown to be viable in principle and may inform decision-making in applied mechanical engineering design research and practice.
AB - Cross-morphological performance comparisons in mechanical engineering design may well resemble comparisons of apples and oranges. They are meaningful only if pertinent properties shared across compared morphologies (so-called tertia comparationis) are identified, and equity with regard to these properties is established. This article demonstrates such an approach with the use of parametric geometry modeling, optimization, and additive manufacturing, enabling a thermal performance comparison of different heat sink morphologies, using both steady-state numerical simulation and experimental evaluation, by establishing equity across the compared heat sinks in terms of (thermal) mass. Limitations in additive manufacturing precision, as well as inconsistencies between numerical simulation and experimental evaluation results, were encountered in this case study. Likely resulting from the heat sinks’ thermal properties on the additive manufacturing process and the simulation environment's disproportionate reliance on convection surface area, these limitations and inconsistencies will likely diminish as additive manufacturing and numerical simulation technologies improve. The cross-morphological comparison approach presented here is shown to be viable in principle and may inform decision-making in applied mechanical engineering design research and practice.
KW - Additive manufacturing
KW - Comparability
KW - Heat management
KW - Performance evaluation
KW - Tertium comparationis
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85187207042&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.matdes.2024.112826
DO - 10.1016/j.matdes.2024.112826
M3 - Article
SN - 0264-1275
VL - 239
JO - Materials and Design
JF - Materials and Design
M1 - 112826
ER -