open access publication

Article, 2022

Material extrusion additive manufacturing and experimental testing of topology-optimised passive heat sinks using a thermally-conductive plastic filament

Additive Manufacturing, ISSN 2214-8604, 2214-7810, Volume 59, Page 103123, 10.1016/j.addma.2022.103123

Contributors

Huttunen, Eetu 0000-0001-6686-9524 [1] Nykänen, Mikko T [1] Alexandersen, Joe 0000-0001-7872-6272 (Corresponding author) [2]

Affiliations

  1. [1] Electronics 3K Factory, South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences (XAMK), Laitaatsillantie 3, 57170 Savonlinna, Finland
    2. [NORA names: Finland; Europe, EU; Nordic; OECD];
  2. [2] University of Southern Denmark
    3. [NORA names: SDU University of Southern Denmark; University; Denmark; Europe, EU; Nordic; OECD]

Abstract

This paper presents an experimental study of topology-optimised passive heat sinks produced in a thermally-conductive plastic using material extrusion additive manufacturing. The thermal performance of the filament is investigated through test printing, thermal conductivity testing and scanning electron microscope imaging. Topology optimisation is used to generate novel heat sink designs for passive cooling through natural convection. The optimised designs are complex and are printed using soluble support materials. The measured anisotropic thermal conductivity of the layer-by-layer additively manufactured specimens is included in the topology optimisation process to design heat sinks specifically with the chosen filament and process in mind. It is shown that when taking the material anisotropy into account, the topology-optimised heat sinks deliver up to 10–20% reduction in thermal resistance compared to a reference straight-fin design.

Keywords

additive manufacturing, anisotropic thermal conductivity, anisotropy, conductivity, conductivity tests, convection, cooling, design, design heat sinks, electron microscope images, experimental study, experimental tests, extrusion additive manufacturing, filaments, heat sink, heat sink design, images, layer-by-layer, manufactured specimens, manufacturing, material anisotropy, material extrusion additive manufacturing, materials, microscopic images, natural convection, optimisation, optimisation process, passive cooling, passive heat sink, performance, plastic filaments, plasticity, printing, process, reduction, resistance, scanning, scanning electron microscope images, sink, sink design, soluble support material, specimens, support material, test, test prints, thermal conductivity, thermal conductivity tests, thermal performance, thermal resistance, topology, topology optimisation, topology optimisation process

Funders

  • Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science

Data Provider: Digital Science

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