Aerodynamic Shape Optimization of Heat Exchangers

Speaker: Joshua Anibal, Science and Technology Corporation / NASA Ames Research Center
July 20, 2023

Presentation

Abstract

Current design methodology for heat exchangers remains rooted in analytical methods informed by empirical studies on simple geometries. Numerical optimization offers an alternative by using optimization algorithms and physics-based simulation to search the vast design space. In this work, we applied adjoint-based shape optimization techniques to the design of heat exchangers for two example problems. First, the geometry of a plate-fin heat exchanger is optimized to reduce drag and mass. Second, we applied the same methodology to the design of a surface heat exchanger of an electric aircraft motor. In this application, we compare the optimized designs of convective-only and conjugate heat transfer models. In all, this high-fidelity optimization approach leads to novel and efficient designs and will become increasingly important as electric and hydrogen-powered aircraft, which have greater thermal constraints, rise in popularity.

Biography

Josh Anibal is a new hire in the Launch, Ascent, and Vehicle Aerodynamics (LAVA) group at NASA Ames Research Center. Josh received both his B.S. in Aerospace Engineering and Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering and Scientific Computing from the University of Michigan. He completed his Ph.D. in December 2022 under the guidance of Professor Joaquim R. R. A. Martins. His doctoral work focused on the aerodynamic shape optimization of heat exchangers and improving the robustness of Newton solvers for steady state CFD by mixing continuation approaches. In addition to CFD, Josh is also passionate about aircraft design. Before joining NASA Ames he was a flight research engineer at Joby Aviation using CFD to design better aircraft.

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