Heat and Mass assignment 2

Fin Optimization design project

Abdallah Alshantaf (214999007)

Contents
Problem statement: ..................................................................................................................................... 3
Methodology: ............................................................................................................................................... 3
Assumptions:............................................................................................................................................. 3
Equations: ................................................................................................................................................. 3
Results: .......................................................................................................................................................... 5
Circular fins ........................................................................................................................................... 5
Discussion: ................................................................................................................................................ 6
.............................................................................................................................................................. 7
Rectangular Fins: ................................................................................................................................... 7
Discussion: .................................................................................................................................................... 8
Optimization: ................................................................................................................................................ 8
Conclusion: .................................................................................................................................................... 9
Problem statement:
One of the main important parameters of designing any engineering
systems, devices, applications, etc., is cooling the system components. Cooling
systems is done by heat dissipation either by forced or natural phenomena. Heat
dissipation of components depend on the geometry, material properties, and
fluid convection properties. Knowing the parameters (heat dissipated, mass,
volume, area) that designers are trying to achieve, we alter the geometries of fins
to meet those requirements. Other things to consider when designing fins, are
the costs of manufacturing of fins, durability, reliability, and maintenance of the
fins. Fin design help cool components faster, which result in a better functioning
system, that lasts longer.
For our problem we were confined by the space available for our design
which was: 1m in length of the cylinder, and 6cm diameter, minimum fin
thickness of 2mm, and minimum spacing between fins of 2 mm. Material used
was aluminum which is light-weight and high thermal conductivity.

Methodology:
Assumptions:
 Steady flow system.
 Uniform material properties.
 Neglect radiation.
 Uniform heat convection coefficient for air flow.

Equations:
 2ℎ 2 ∗ 60
𝑚=√ =√ = 18.257
𝑘𝑡 180 ∗ 0.002

2
𝐴𝑓𝑖𝑛 = 2𝜋(𝑟2𝑐 − 𝑟12 ) = 2𝜋(0.0302 − 0.0152 )=4.6e-3m^2

𝐴𝑢𝑛𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑑 = 2𝜋𝑟1 ∗ (𝐿 − #𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑠 ∗ 𝑡) = 2𝜋 ∗ 0.015 ∗ (1 − 250 ∗ 0.002) = 0.0471𝑚^2

𝐴𝑤/𝑜𝐹𝑖𝑛𝑠 = 2𝜋 ∗ 𝑟1 ∗ 𝐿 = 2𝜋 ∗ 0.015 ∗ 1 = 0.0942

𝐾 (𝑚𝑟 )𝐼 (𝑚𝑟 )−𝐼 (𝑚𝑟 )𝐾 (𝑚𝑟 )
𝜂 = 𝐶2 𝐼 1(𝑚𝑟 1)𝐾1 (𝑚𝑟2𝑐 )+𝐾1 (𝑚𝑟1 )𝐼1 (𝑚𝑟2𝑐 )=0.961
0 1 1 2𝑐 0 1 1 2𝑐

2𝑟1⁄
𝑚
𝐶2 = 2
𝑟2𝑐 − 𝑟12
𝐿 1
#𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑠 = = = 250
𝑡 + 𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑔 0.002 + 0.002
𝑄 = 𝐴ℎ(𝑇(𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒) − 𝑇(𝑆𝑢𝑟𝑟))
𝑄𝐹𝑖𝑛 = 4.624e − 3 ∗ 60 ∗ (120 − 25) ∗ 250 = 6590.6
𝑄𝑢𝑛𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑑 = 0.0471 ∗ 60 ∗ (120 − 25) = 268.5

𝑄𝑤/𝑜𝐹𝑖𝑛 = 0.0942 ∗ 60 ∗ (120 − 25) = 536.9

𝑄𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 = 𝑄𝐹𝐼𝑛 + 𝑄𝑢𝑛𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑑 = 6590.6 + 268.5 = 6859.1

𝑄𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 6859.095
∈= = = 12.77
𝑄 𝑤 536
𝑜𝐹𝐼𝑛
Results:

Circular fins

Thickness impact:

Figure 1: fin thickness impact on heat dissipation Figure 2: fin thickness impact on mass

Spacing impact:

Figure 3: spacing impact on heat dissipation Figure 4: spacing impact on mass

Radius impact:

Figure 5:Radius impact on mass Figure 6: Radius impact on heat dissipation

Discussion:
Circular fins’ thickness and spacing impact the number of fins that you can put on your cylinder.
Increasing the spacing of the fins would increase the area unfinned, which results in more heat
dissipated from the cylinder itself but decrease the number of fins. The decrease in the number of fins
would result in less heat dissipated in total, because the fins increase the surface area available for heat
dissipation through area finned. This is shown in figure 4, as we increase the spacing, the total heat
dissipated is decreasing exponentially. However, the advantage of using less fins is reducing the total
mass of the system as shown in figure 5.

Increasing the thickness is unfavorable, since it increases the mass of the total system because
of the added material, as well as decrease the number of fins for heat dissipation. Imagine, increasing
the thickness of the fins to an extent that there is no more spacing between the fins, this makes the fins
as one big fin, which is ineffective. For, the added thickness decreases the heat dissipated because the
conduction in the fin itself is now being conducted heavily in two dimensions rather than in one
dimension, which is the case in thin fins. Manufacturing thin fins, can result in their fracture, prone to
deformation caused by thermal stress. So, a balanced fin thickness is optimum for heat dissipation.

The impact of the fin radius on the effectiveness of the fins relates directly to the area finned
which is linearly related to heat dissipated through fins. This means the larger the fin radius, the more
the heat dissipated. Figure 5 shows the relation between the two. The reason designers do not make
just one thin fin with a very large radius to dissipate all the heat at once, is that they are often working
with predefined geometries, that limit their options in terms of size, shape, materials. Also, the more
you increase the radius of the fins the heavier the part gets due to increase in volume. Increasing the fin
radius does not impact the number of fins you can mount on a cylinder, since it is not changing the area
unfinned. Think of it as putting CDs, and records concentrically on a tube, the number you add is not
limited by the radius, but the thickness of CDs and the spacing.
Rectangular Fins:

Thickness impact:

Figure 7:thickness of rectangular fins vs mass Figure 8: Thickness of rectangular fins vs total heat

Spacing impact:

Figure 9:Spacing impact on heat dissipation Figure 10:Spacing impact on weight of fins

Length impact:

Figure 11:length impact on weight Figure 12:length impact on mass

Discussion:
Like the circular fins, the increase in fin thickness would increase the heat dissipated, because of
the increase in surface area finned. (See figure 11) increasing the length would consequently increase
the mass of the system.

The no. of rectangular fins is defined by the thickness of fins and spacing between them. Which is
reflected by the trend of heat dissipated, as well as the mass of fins. The thicker the fins the less heats
gets dissipated because we are changing the no. of fins, by increasing the area finned, however there is
limited space on the cylinder, so the number of fins decreases. Similar trend can be seen by the increase
of spacing; however, more heat is dissipated when increasing thickness than when increasing spacing.
(shown in figure 7 and figure 9)

Increasing the fins’ thickness will result in heavier fins, until they reach a point where the fins can’t get
any thicker without dropping the no. of fins. Which explains the shape of the “rise and drop you”
illustrated in figure 8. An opposite trend is seen when the spacing is increasing, the fins get lighter till the
no. of fins decrease.

Optimization:

For circular option, the option that gets the maximum heat dissipation and minimum weight for
circular fins is the one with minimum spacing requirement as well as minimum spacing, yet maximum
radius. Which results in the highest effectiveness. Both the above options meet the design constraints in
terms of heat dissipation and geometry dimensions.

For the rectangular fins, using the optimal parameters will still not meet the requirements in terms of
heat dissipation, even after increasing the surface area to the maximum allowed. To achieve this rate,
we have to go over the limit in terms of fin length,
Conclusion:
 Circular fins are a better option for this case because it is more effective than rectangular fins.
 Increasing the fin length will result in an increase in surface area which will consequently
dissipate heat at a higher transfer rate.
 Changing the thickness and spacing will affect the total no. of fins available for heat transfer
 Increasing the no. of fins also increases heat dissipation, yet it might be inefficient in terms of
manufacturing and costs.