The Design and Analysis of an Additively Manufactured Gyroid Triply Periodic Minimal Surface Heat Exchanger

Advances in additive manufacturing encourage the use of complex geometries in heat exchanger design, such as using Triply Periodic Minimal Surfaces (TPMS). There are numerous examples of TPMS geometries. The gyroid surface was selected for this research because of its balanced thermal and hydraulic performance. The high surface area per volume of the gyroid results in enhanced heat transfer but also increased pressure losses. This research involves the design, manufacture, and tests of several TPMS heat exchanger candidate geometries to characterize heat transfer and hydraulic resistance. Sensitivity of the gyroid geometry to variations in aspect ratio were explored. Comparisons between available results in literature, computational fluid dynamics, and experimental results are presented for both pressure drop and heat transfer. Generally, the gyroid heat exchanger required a 150% smaller volume to achieve a similar heat transfer rate compared to a conventional cross flow shell and tube heat exchanger, but at a higher pressure drop per unit length.