1st International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Kruger Park, 8-10 April 2002.
This lecture is a principle-based review of a growing body
of fundamental work stimulated by multiple opportunities to
optimize geometric form (shape, structure, configuration,
rhythm, topology, architecture, geography) in systems for heat
and fluid flow. Currents flow against resistances, and by
generating entropy (irreversibility) they force the system global
performance to levels lower than the theoretical limit. The
system design is destined to remain imperfect because of
constraints (finite sizes, costs, times). Improvements can be
achieved by properly balancing the resistances, i.e., by spreading
the imperfections through the system. Optimal spreading means
to endow the system with geometric form. The system
construction springs out of the constrained maximization of
global performance. This 'constructal' design principle is
reviewed by highlighting applications from heat transfer
engineering. Several examples illustrate the optimized internal
structure of convection cooled packages of electronics. The
origin of optimal geometric features lies in the global effort to
use every volume element to the maximum, i.e., to pack the
element not only with the most heat generating components, but
also with the most flow, in such a way that every fluid packet is
effectively engaged in cooling. In flows that connect a point to
a volume or an area, the resulting structure is a tree with high conductivity
branches and low-conductivity interstices.
