Irregular-microstructured thermal metamaterials: inverse design based on topology optimization and performance validation

Key Points

• The study aims to develop a method for designing irregular microstructures in thermal metamaterials to optimize thermal conductivity.
• Utilized topology optimization for inverse design of thermal metamaterials.
• Focused on creating microstructures with specific thermal conductivity tensors.
• Applied the design to heat concentrators and validated through numerical simulations and experiments.
• The new design method demonstrated significant advantages in both design feasibility and manufacturability.
• The produced microstructures showed exceptional performance in controlling heat flow.