CTAIR Constructal Tree Structures for Mechanical Strength and Cooling of Aircraft

Abstract : This project developed the fundamental features and strategy for the design of vascular solid structures with embedded volumetric functionalities: vascular flow access throughout the solid volume, superior overall mechanical strength, and volumetric self cooling. The research was based on constructal design, which is the philosophy that the flow and solid structures are free to morph hand in glove to provide greater access to all the currents including the flow of stresses. The project was constructed in several stages: the natural emergence of vascular design in the pursuit of greater flow access, the design of vascular structures for volumetric cooling and mechanical strength, the merits of hybrid designs consisting of grid & tree channels, vascularized plates subjected to randomly moving heat sources, and the overall design merits of allowing the flow architecture to morph more and more freely. The main feature of all this work is that it is fundamental. The design principles developed in this project have applicability across the spectrum of mechanical structures with embedded heating, cooling, and fluid flow.