Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Natural Convection Heat Transfer Of Inclined Sierpinski Carpet Fractal Fins, Luke A. Fussell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

When designing extended surfaces for the thermal management of electronic devices in aerospace applications it is critically important to minimize mass. However, this can be difficult to achieve as the rate of heat dissipated is directly proportional to the surface area. Fortunately, when certain fractal geometries, like the Sierpinski carpet, are utilized in the design of extended surfaces an increase in surface area and simultaneous decrease in mass can be achieved. The thermal performance of fins inspired by the first four fractal iterations of the Sierpinski carpet pattern was experimentally examined in a natural convection environment. The fractal fins were …