Topology optimization of microvascular composites for active-cooling applications using a geometrical reduced-order model

In this study, we develop a design methodology with a basis in gradient-based topology optimization and a geometrical reduced-order thermal/hydraulic model for actively cooled microvascular composite panels. The proposed method is computationally very efficient owing to the suggested simplifications while preserving the required accuracy. The analytical sensitivity for the topology optimization scheme is derived. Several numerical examples are solved to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed method for active-cooling applications. Using topology optimization, the maximum temperature of the composite panel is reduced by up to 59% compared to a benchmark design. The optimization framework is compared to hybrid topology/shape (HyTopS) and shape optimization (SO) methods based on several measures such as maximum and average temperatures, temperature uniformity, network redundancy, and manufacturability. The solution obtained from the proposed TO scheme outperforms the other approaches in terms of the aforementioned measures.