A level set-based topology optimization approach for thermally radiating structures

Abstract

The need for efficient thermally radiating structures is apparent in many aerospace system designs including satellites, launch vehicles, and hypersonic aircraft. This paper presents a novel level set-based topology optimization approach for designing thermally efficient radiating structures. In this paper, we derive a shape sensitivity of the thermal heat power radiated objective function using the adjoint method. This sensitivity is a necessary ingredient for our gradient-based algorithm. We apply an augmented Lagrangian method to solve an example 2D problem where the goal is to maximize heat power rejected subject to a material volume constraint. The radiating surface is kept fixed during the optimization to maintain a design-independent boundary condition, while the conducting region is optimized. Several solutions are illustrated with varying initial conditions. We also present a case study indicating that maximizing the thermal compliance functional is not sufficient for solving this class of problems.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
May 26, 2022
Source ID
10.1007/s00158-022-03261-6

Entities

People

  • Andrew I. March
  • Brian S. Cohen
  • David W. Miller
  • Karen Willcox

Organizations

  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • National Science Foundation
  • United States Air Force

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Engineering
  • Physics

Readers

  • Operations Research
  • Phased Array Antenna Design.
  • Thermal Physics or Thermal Science.

Technology Areas

  • Hypersonics
  • Space