Additive Manufactured Heatsinks for Power Electronics Assemblies – Multi Physics Topology Optimisation

Abstract:
In recent years, there has been an increase in the use of power electronics due to the shift towards electrification. The challenge electrification requires are with performance, miniaturisation and weight saving. The cooling unit is significantly important for high heat dissipation during the operation of power electronics in harsh environments. The current heatsinks used have a limit of cooling performance. To address this MTC’s engineers worked on a coupled thermal-fluid topology optimisation to come up with new heatsinks designs, which are simulated, manufactured using Additive Manufacturing. Following design amendments and validation simulations, an optimized AM heatsink is manufactured using AlSi10Mg material. The optimized design shows 20% improvement in thermal performance with a reduced mass compared to the conventional heatsink design.