Constructal vascularized structures

Abstract

Smart features such as self-healing and selfcooling require bathing the entire volume with a coolant or/and healing agent. Bathing the entire volume is an example of point to area (or volume) ows. Point to area ows cover all the distributing and collecting kinds of ows, i.e. inhaling and exhaling, mining, river deltas, energy distribution, distribution of products on the landscape and so on. The ow resistances of a point to area ow can be decreased by changing the design with the guidance of the constructal law, which is the law of the design evolution in time. In this paper, how the ow resistances (heat, uid and stress) can be decreased by using the constructal law is shown with examples. First, the validity of two assumptions is surveyed: using temperature independent Hess-Murray rule and using constant diameter ducts where the duct discharges uid along its edge. Then, point to area types of ows are explained by illustrating the results of two examples: uid networks and heating an area. Last, how the structures should be vascularized for cooling and mechanical strength is documented. This paper shows that ow resistances can be decreased by morphing the shape freely without any restrictions or generic algorithms.Keywords: constructal law; vascularization; point to area ows; distributing ows; smart materials Emergence of vascularizationAdvanced capabilities such as self-healing and selfcooling require bathing the entire volume with coolant uid or healing agent [1][2][3][4][5], which can be achieved by vascularization. In addition of being necessary for the advanced capabilities, vascularization is also essential to decrease the resistances of the distribution of energy, goods and water [1,6,7]. In smart materials, the structure is bathed with coolant or healing agent which is supplied

Entrance-length dendritic plate heat exchangers

“…Advances are published regularly for heat exchangers [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13], fuel cells [14], fluid networks [15][16][17][18][19][20], steam generators [21,22], fluid channels [23][24][25][26][27], energy storage [28], transportation [29][30][31][32], power generation [33][34][35][36][37], and management [38].…”