Constructal Theory and Design of Vascular Structures

This paper reports original work on the development of vascular flow architectures for cooling flat bodies that are heated uniformly by electronics. This is the latest work in applying constructal theory to the conceptual development of architectures for high-density cooling of electronic packages. According to the constructal law, the flow architecture is free to morph, and the design evolves in the direction of decreasing fluid flow resistance, shaving the temperature peaks, spreading them more uniformly, and decreasing the overall pumping power. The designs explored in this paper differ with respect to layout and coolant flow direction (inlet or outlet in the center of the slab). The composite (solid & fluid) vascular body is simulated fully numerically by accounting for conduction, convection and pressure losses at junctions and entrances. The objective is to have a vasculature that distributes the temperature nonuniformity in such a way that the working volume is protected against exposure to peak temperatures. In addition, this paper draws attention to the latest literature and applications of constructal vascular design for electronics cooling and packaging, which are covered in a new book [1].