Optimization of heat sink fin geometries for heat sinks in natural convection

An approach for determining the optimum fin configurations for a given heat sink in natural convection is developed. Incorporation of minimization routines into the analysis eliminates the manual, iterative design analysis and identifies the optimum design. Optimization of fin geometry for heat sinks in natural convection with rectangular cross section fins at a constant fin spacing was implemented for steady state and intermittent duty cycle operation. The proposed algorithm allows the computer to hunt for the lowest temperature performance of a user-specified range of fin geometries. The heat transfer analysis is based on methods used in conventional heat sink analysis programs, so the results correlate well