Thermohydraulic performance optimization of integrated porous pin fins in microchannel heat sink using shape optimization coupled with genetic algorithm

Micro porous heat sink (MPHS) with enhanced heat transfer performance faces higher pressure drop challenges than conventional heat sinks. Practical applications of MPHS are recently investigated focusing on basic structures. But explorations on complex structures and their performance enhancement are limited. Moreover, the heat conductivity along channel height direction needs further enhancement. To address the problems and extend porous fin designs, we propose a brand-new bionic integrated porous pin fin in MPHS. Procedures of shape optimization coupled with Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm (NSGA) are applied to the porous fin design. The objective is chosen as figure of merit (FOM) regarding integrated pin fin spacing, solid sub pin fin spacing, and porous zone diameter. This novel method in MPHS investigation helps to find the optimal geometric parameter combination and counter-intuitive design. Then, a detailed performance comparative analysis for the optimized structure is conducted. The results show improvement ratio ranges of FOM are 18.79 - 21.65%, 71.84 - 108.72%, and 212.7 - 231.5%, compared to non-optimized, partially-filled, and fully-filled structures, respectively. This work indicates that the innovative design attains significant energy efficiency improvement, and the novel method is feasible for comprehensive optimization.