Design and performance enhancement of thermal-fluid system based on topology optimization.

• A new topology approach based on the finite element method coupled with a density approach is proposed. • An alternative projection function and a new objective function are improved and applied. • All parameters and equations are treated as global dimensionless in the proposed approach. • The verification schemes for the proposed approach and the optimized structure performance are carried out. The present work is based on the Finite Element Method as the discretization technique coupled to a density approach, an alternative interpolation function in this paper. A new dimensionless objective function combining minimum energy consumption and maximum thermal performance of topology optimization is proposed, and the performance of the approach and the optimized structure in this paper are verified. The result shows: that the alternative interpolation function can effectively solve the checkerboard and gray cell problems in topology optimization; the new objective function can reduce the vibration problem in the calculation process caused by nonlinearity; in the same conjugate heat transfer systems, the objective function value obtained by the Finite Element Method is 2.24% higher than that of Finite Volume Method and 4.26% higher than that of the Lattice Boltzmann Method; under high Reynolds number, topology structure shows superior comprehensive performance, which is increased by 19.5% -65.2%, and energy consumption per heat transfer can be reduced by up to 38.85%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]