Modification of the Amount of Heat Transfer by Shape Morphing of Annular Fins

A reliable and practical way to increase the amount of heat transfer is using fins to extend the heat transfer surface. Geometry and total area of fins are the main parameters which determine the efficiency of fins. Therefore, morphing of fins could be used as a tool to change the amount of heat transfer and functionality of fins at will. A powerful and feasible way to provide the force needed to deform the fins, is using strain-recovering metallic alloys. In this paper, a model of a tube with three attached annular fins, is created and numerical analysis is performed on this model in order to assess the functionality of fins. The numerical simulation includes structural analysis, thermal analysis and modal analysis. By structural analysis, it is confirmed that morphing of fins (which is provided by a certain amount of force) will not result in failure. In order to investigate thermal functionality of fins, thermal analysis is performed on both deformed and non-deformed states of the structure. Also, modal analysis is used to determine the natural frequencies and mode shapes of the structure and their variations relevant to deformation. The results of this paper indicate that the method presented in this paper is fully capable of modifying the amount of heat transfer if necessary.

Keywords:

Annular fins , Shape morphing , Heat transfer