Thermal performance optimization for a tapered heat sink of bus bar conductor using definitive screening design

This study examines and optimizes four design parameters of a bus duct conductor's heat sink: fin pitch, fin height, fin thickness, and the number of fin valleys. Average surface temperature and Nusselt number are chosen as the thermal performance criterion of the heat sink. A Definitive Screening Design is employed as a statistical method to reduce the number of optimization runs required while minimizing the aliasing. The regression analysis, analysis of variance, main effect analysis and optimization are conducted to optimize the heat sink design parameter and its thermal performance. The current results provide an ideal heat sink design for the casing of bus duct conductors. A fin pitch of 4 mm, fin height of 6.5 mm, fin thickness of 1 mm, and six fin valleys are determined to be the most optimal combination of design parameters. The optimized responses' average surface temperature and Nusselt numbers are 72.05 °C and 21.59, respectively, with 2.97 % and 6.25 % deviation from the predicted values of the empirical equation. The experimental results are benchmarked against the IEC 60439-1 and IEC 60439-2 standards. The current analysis is expected to provide more insight into the impact of design factors on the thermal performance of a bus duct conductor.