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 a fan and an extruded-fin heat sink, required for a dc-dc converter of an airborne wind turbine 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, and the calculated results are compared to the results determined with a preexisting analytical model and finite-element model simulations. The comparison to experimental results demonstrates 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=1 K/W.