Investigation of thermal management in a differentially heated square cavity through topology optimization

• Surrogate-based global topology optimizations are performed for thermal management. • The topology of inner objects within a differentially heated cavity is optimized. • Either cooling or thermal insulation performances are enhanced through optimization. • Valuable insights into thermal management are obtained through optimal solutions. Natural convection driven by buoyancy is a key aspect of thermal management and has a wide range of applications, such as cooling technologies for automobiles and electronic devices, and thermal insulation technology for the construction industry. There have been numerous investigations of differentially heated cavities containing inner objects. Recently, topology optimizations utilizing thermal fluid simulations have attracted attention due to advances in optimization techniques. In this study, we employ a global optimization method of FANTOM and CFD software OpenFOAM to perform the topology optimization of inner objects within a two-dimensional differentially heated cavity at a Rayleigh number of 10 4 . Six topology optimization cases were performed considering two objective functions and three thermal boundary conditions of the inner objects. Through the optimization results, this study derived significant insights into thermal management at different boundary conditions. At Rayleigh number Ra = 10 4 , both convection and conduction are influential in the optimization results. Placing rounded inner objects that don’t prevent convection is particularly effective for enhancing cooling performance. In contrast, placing multiple complex objects can suppress convective heat transfer, which enhances insulation performance. It was also confirmed that the distance between the hot wall and the inner object was a key parameter in the conductive heat exchange.