Shell lattice structure design with directional fluid channels for efficient heat dissipation

Abstract

The growing demand for heat dissipation in aerospace, electronics cooling, and advanced energy systems is becoming increasingly critical, where maintaining lightweight design is equally vital for their high efficiency. To satisfy both requirements, lattice structures have emerged as promising candidates due to their high surface-area-to-volume ratio and lightweight nature. This study introduces a novel lightweight shell lattice structure with enhanced heat dissipation performance. The skeleton-driven parametric modeling approach is adopted to realize flexible adjustment of structural topology and shape. The generation parameters are obtained through a thermo-fluid topology optimization process. The optimized fluid channels are embedded into three-dimensional shell lattice structures via parameter mapping. Efficient heat dissipation lattice structures with directional fluid channels are generated. Three-dimensional conjugate heat transfer simulations demonstrate that the optimized design significantly reduces average and peak temperatures while simultaneously lowering pressure drop compared to the initial design. Comparative analysis with other shell lattice structures (e.g., triply periodic minimal surfaces) demonstrates superior flow guidance and mitigation of localized hot spots. Additionally, the skeleton-driven modeling method can be readily extended to conformal designs, while preserving excellent flow control and thermal performance in curved space. Physical experiments have demonstrated the effectiveness of the optimization design method. This work provides a systematic framework for developing high-efficiency, lightweight thermal management structures with broad applicability in advanced engineering systems.