PI: Natasha Vermaak
Co-PI(s): Keith Moored
University: Lehigh University
Industry partner: Advanced Cooling Technologies
Multifunctional metamaterials are increasingly of interest to meet the demands of next-generation power generation and energy management systems. Metamaterials derive unique performance and properties from their combinations of geometry/architecture, material composition, and/or hierarchy. The simultaneous optimization of mechanical and phononic metamaterials for tunable thermal expansion and turbulent heat transfer performance offers a promising pathway for disruptive cooling technologies that has yet to be explored and experimentally validated. The tunable design of both effective coefficient of thermal expansion and select phononic band gap properties can improve the efficiency and durability of heat exchangers and combustors, ensuring the reliable delivery, transmission, and use of energy. Mechanical metamaterials with thermal expansion tensors that exhibit positive/negative, isotropic/anisotropic, and/or homogeneous/heterogeneous properties can mitigate thermal stresses. Phononic metamaterials are able to transform our ability to control the instability landscape that drives turbulent heat transfer by dampening particular flow perturbation frequencies and altering the character of the flow. For this purpose, a multi-disciplinary research team with expertise in material design and topology optimization (Vermaak) and the mechanics of thermal fluids (Moored) has been formed with integral collaboration from a premier thermal management solutions company (Advanced Cooling Technologies, Inc.). Together, we will be the first to demonstrate a validated design of multifunctional metamaterials for thermostructural management.