Weight optimization of a cooling system composed of fan and extruded fin heat sink

This Paper details the weight optimization of forced convection cooling systems, composed of fan and extruded fin heat sink, required for a dc-dc converter of an airborne wind turbine (AWT) system. The presented investigations detail the optimization of the heat sink´s fins with respect to minimum weight and the selection of a suitable fan for minimum overall system weight. A new analytical cooling system model is introduced, the calculated results are compared to the results determined with a preexisting analytical model and Finite Element Model (FEM) simulations. The comparison to experimental results demonstrate the accuracy improvements achieved with the proposed methods. Compared to commercially available products a weight reduction of 52% is achieved with the proposed optimization procedure for the required heat sink system with R_{th, S-a} = 1K/W.