Thermal-hydraulic performance of TPMS air-cooled heat sinks under realistic desktop CPU operating conditions: Experiments and numerical analysis

Most studies of triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS) heat sinks use idealized heat sources, leaving their performance under realistic CPU operating conditions insufficiently understood. In this study, Gyroid- and Diamond-based air-cooled heat sinks were additively manufactured and evaluated on a real-CPU platform at airflow rates of 10–45 m 3 /h. Two comparison schemes were established: one against a benchmark finned heat sink under comparable heat-transfer-area conditions and the other against a commercial air cooler. CPU core temperature, processor-reported CPU package power, and pressure drop were recorded, and conjugate heat transfer simulations were used to interpret the internal flow and temperature fields. Gyroid-20 and Diamond-20 reduced the CPU core temperature by approximately 7–9 °C at 20–45 m 3 /h while the reported package powers remained within a similar range. At 10 m 3 /h, their higher reported power levels near the thermal limit provided auxiliary evidence of stronger low-flow cooling capability. Although Gyroid-8 and Diamond-8 had only 77% and 93% of the commercial cooler's heat-transfer area, they reduced the recorded CPU temperature by approximately 2–3 °C under most operating conditions. Their pressure drops reached 49.0 and 58.8 Pa, respectively, at 45 m 3 /h. The numerical results suggest that repeated flow deflection and redistribution within TPMS passages contributed to improved heat removal. These findings demonstrate the cooling potential of compact TPMS cores while highlighting their additional hydraulic cost.