Comparative Study on Thermal Properties of 3D Printed and Conventional Fins

Abstract

Fins are a type of heat exchanger that is attached to a part of the product and is mainly used to enhance the heat transfer rates. Fins are generally manufactured using conventional manufacturing (CM) methods such as extrusion, die casting, and forging. Additive manufacturing (AM) is a modern manufacturing technique that is one of the emerging methods to manufacture metallic components such as fins. Some of the advantages of using AM is that it is much more cost-efficient, reduces a lot of material wastage than CM methods, as well as more time-efficient. The AM process, which will be used for the manufacture of fins, is either Directed Energy Deposition (DED) or Powder Bed Fusion (PBF). AM printed fins can even be used in applications that require components to operate at very high temperatures. In this research paper, the effect on heat transfer rates of the fins manufactured using different AM techniques is carried. Furthermore, an analysis of the thermal properties and heat transfer rates of multiple 3D printable materials will be conducted using the ANSYS Workbench Mechanical 2018 software. These will then be compared with fins manufactured with CM techniques. The expected research outcomes are that the fins manufactured using AM techniques will show better thermal properties than the CM method, and hence AM will be a great replacement for CM techniques given the introduction of more 3D printable materials in near future.