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6CCVD Research

Review of Triply Periodic Minimal Surface (TPMS) Structures for Cooling Heat Sinks

At a Glance

Section titled “At a Glance”
MetadataDetails
Publication Date2025-09-16
JournalEnergies
AuthorsKhaoula Amara, M. Ziad Saghir, Ridha Abdeljabar
InstitutionsUniversity of Gafsa, Toronto Metropolitan University
AnalysisFull AI Review Included

Executive Summary

Section titled “Executive Summary”

This review confirms the significant potential of Triply Periodic Minimal Surface (TPMS) structures as a next-generation solution for high-performance heat sinks, offering substantial advantages over conventional cooling media.

  • Superior Thermal Performance: TPMS geometries (Gyroid, Diamond, Schwarz-P) deliver enhanced convective heat transfer, resulting in 8-12% higher Nusselt numbers (Nu) and superior temperature uniformity compared to traditional fins and metal foams.
  • Tunable Geometry: Performance is highly adaptable through precise control of geometric parameters, including porosity (Δ), unit cell size, wall thickness, and anisotropic stretching, enabling optimization for specific flow regimes.
  • Hydraulic Trade-off: The primary challenge remains the critical trade-off between high heat transfer efficiency and increased hydraulic resistance (pressure drop, Delta P), which can be mitigated using functionally graded porosity designs (achieving up to 94.8% Delta P reduction).
  • Material and Fluid Integration: Performance is maximized by combining TPMS structures fabricated from high thermal conductivity metals (Aluminum, Silver) with advanced coolants, such as hybrid nanofluids (HNA) or water-glycol mixtures.
  • Additive Manufacturing (AM) Dependent: The practical implementation of these complex, intricate structures relies heavily on advanced AM techniques (SLM, DMLS) to ensure high precision and structural integrity.
  • Design Optimization Focus: Future research must focus on multi-objective topology optimization and Multiphysics modeling to integrate geometric tuning, material selection, and AM constraints for scalable, real-world deployment.

Technical Specifications

Section titled “Technical Specifications”
ParameterValueUnitContext
Nu Enhancement (Nanofluids)8-12%Gain achieved using hybrid nanofluids (HNA) in metallic TPMS structures (Kilic et al. [6]).
Pressure Drop (Gyroid vs. Foam)18% higherGyroid TPMS pressure drop compared to conventional metal foams (Saghir et al. [9]).
PEC Enhancement25-30%Overall Performance Evaluation Criterion improvement over conventional designs.
Pressure Drop Reduction (Graded Porosity)Up to 94.8%Optimized Gyroid designs (P, G, D) using field-driven porosity control (Lv et al. [20]).
Nu Increase (Graded Porosity)19.2%Corresponding Nu increase for optimized Gyroid structures (Lv et al. [20]).
Reynolds Number (Re) Range (Laminar)0.01 to 100-Range studied for thermal behavior in TPMS mini-channels (Rathore et al. [22]).
Porosity (Δ) Range70.6 to 86.2%Range observed across various TPMS topologies (Fischer-Koch-S to Primitive).
Heat Exchange Area (Fischer-Koch-S)1.81 x 10-2m2Largest area reported among tested TPMS geometries (Tang et al. [21]).
Hydraulic Diameter (Primitive)1.24 x 10-3mSmallest hydraulic diameter, indicating high flow resistance (Tang et al. [21]).
Wall Thickness Reduction (Example)1.2 to 0.4mmReduction in Split P lattice, increasing surface area and porosity (Al-Ketan et al. [10]).

Key Methodologies

Section titled “Key Methodologies”
  1. TPMS Generation and Parameterization: Utilizing implicit mathematical equations involving trigonometric functions to define and control the geometry (e.g., Gyroid, Diamond, Primitive) and periodicity in 3D space.
  2. Geometric Optimization: Employing parametric design to tune structural variables, including uniform porosity, variable porosity grading (field-driven design), unit cell size (e.g., 12.5 mm to 15 mm), and anisotropic stretching along the flow direction.
  3. Additive Manufacturing (AM): Fabrication of functional prototypes using metal-based techniques:
    • Selective Laser Melting (SLM) and Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) for high-conductivity metals (Aluminum, Silver, Stainless Steel).
    • Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) and Stereolithography (SLA) for polymer prototyping and cold testing.
  4. Thermal-Hydraulic Modeling: Conducting numerical simulations (CFD) using the Darcy-Brinkman model and Conjugate Heat Transfer (CHT) analysis to predict fluid flow, temperature fields, and pressure losses.
  5. Advanced Fluid Integration: Testing performance enhancement by circulating advanced coolants, including water-glycol mixtures (5% glycol) and hybrid nanofluids (HNA), under forced and turbulent convection regimes.
  6. Performance Metric Analysis: Evaluating efficiency using dimensionless parameters: Nusselt number (Nu), friction factor, and the overall Performance Evaluation Criterion (PEC), across a wide range of Reynolds numbers (Re).
  7. Phase Change Material (PCM) Integration: Investigating TPMS structures embedded with PCMs for latent heat storage applications, optimizing porosity and topology to reduce PCM melting time.

Commercial Applications

Section titled “Commercial Applications”
  • Power Electronics Cooling: High heat flux dissipation for advanced electronic components (CPUs, IGBTs) in compact liquid cooling systems, ensuring stable temperature distribution.
  • Aerospace and Defense: Manufacturing lightweight, high-efficiency heat exchangers for aircraft and spacecraft where strict volume and mass constraints apply.
  • Thermal Energy Storage (TES): Developing compact latent heat storage systems by integrating TPMS structures with Phase Change Materials (PCMs) to enhance heat transfer rates.
  • Automotive and Electric Vehicles (EVs): Advanced thermal management for battery packs, utilizing TPMS to achieve uniform cooling and prevent thermal runaway.
  • Compact Heat Exchangers: High-performance air/water and gas/liquid heat exchangers for industrial processes and HVAC systems requiring superior surface-to-volume ratios.
  • Filtration and Catalysis: Utilizing the highly interconnected porous networks and large surface areas of TPMS as advanced filtration media or catalyst supports, optimizing mass transfer and reducing pressure drop.
View Original Abstract

This review paper deals with Triply Periodic Minimal Surfaces (TPMS) and lattice structures as a new generation of heat exchangers. Especially, their manufacturing is becoming feasible with technological progress. While some intricate structures are fabricated, challenges persist concerning manufacturing limitations, cost-effectiveness, and performance under transient operating conditions. Studies reported that these complex geometries, such as diamond, gyroid, and hexagonal lattices, outperform traditional finned and porous materials in thermal management, particularly under forced and turbulent convection regimes. However, TPMS necessitates the optimization of geometric parameters such as cell size, porosity, and topology stretching. The complex geometries enhance uniform heat exchange and reduce thermal boundary layers. Moreover, the integration of high thermal conductivity materials (e.g., aluminum and silver) and advanced coolants (including nanofluids and ethylene glycol mixtures) further improves performance. However, the drawback of complex geometries, confirmed by both numerical and experimental investigations, is the critical trade-off between heat transfer performance and pressure drop. The potential of TPMS-based heatsinks transpires as a trend for next-generation thermal management systems, besides identifying key directions for future research, including design optimization, Multiphysics modeling, and practical implementation.

Tech Support

Section titled “Tech Support”

Original Source

Section titled “Original Source”

References

Section titled “References”
  1. 2024 - Conjugate study on heat transfer enhancement of a TPMS-based hybrid heat sink design [Crossref]
  2. 2025 - Performance evaluation for additively manufactured heat sinks based on Gyroid-TPMS [Crossref]
  3. 2024 - Investigations on the heat transfer performance of phase change material (PCM)-based heat sink with triply periodic minimal surfaces (TPMS) [Crossref]
  4. 2024 - The effects of cell stretching on the thermal and flow characteristics of triply periodic minimal surfaces [Crossref]
  5. 2024 - Thermal performances of Gyroid-fin heat sink for power chips [Crossref]
  6. 2021 - MSLattice: A free software for generating uniform and graded lattices based on triply periodic minimal surfaces

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