This paper presents numerical and experimental results for natural-convection cooling of freeform-optimized shapes. Stateof-the-art 3D-printing technologies are utilized to fabricate innovative heat sink designs. Biomimicry was used to develop heat sink shapes based on brain coral. CFD-optimized designs were systematically analysed altering the number and size of air inlet holes to improve airflow circulation. Selectively laser-sintered polyamide heat sinks were used for experimental airflow testing, whereas selectively laser-melted aluminium heat sinks were used for thermal performance testing. Material properties as well as heat sink thermal resistances were determined. A good agreement between numerical and experimental results was found. The validated numerical approach can be used to further enhance freeform heat sink shapes. Moreover, the non-uniform material properties, which 3D-printed parts inherently feature, that were experimentally determined as part of this study can be included into the numerical model and optimization strategies. September 2018, Stockholm / SE www.therminic2018.eu (( 24 th INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP on Thermal Investigations of ICs and Systems )) 2018
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.