Constructal Design Associated to Genetic Algorithm of Asymmetric V-Shaped Pathways

This work relies on constructal design to perform the geometric optimization of the V-shaped pathways of highly conductive materials (inserts) that remove a constant heat generation rate from a body and deliver it to isothermal heat sinks. It is shown numerically that the global thermal resistance of the V-shaped pathway can be minimized by geometric optimization subject to total volume and V-shaped pathways material constraints. Constructal design and genetic algorithm (GA) optimization showed the emergence of an optimal architecture that minimizes the global thermal resistance: an optimal external shape for the assembly of pathways and optimal geometry features for the V-shaped pathway. Parametric study was performed to show the behavior of the minimized global thermal resistance as function of the volume fraction of the V-shaped pathways. First achieved results for φ=0.3 indicated that when freedom is given to the geometry, the thermal performance is improved. Afterward, the employment of GA with constructal design allowed the achievement of the optimal shapes of V-shaped pathways for different volume fractions (0.2≤φ≤0.4). It was not realized the occurrence of one universal optimal shape for the several values of φ investigated, i.e., the optimal design was dependent on the degrees of freedom and the parameter φ and it is reached according to constructal principle of optimal distribution of imperfections.