Modeling a Two-Fluid Heat Exchanger with Triply Periodic Minimal Surfaces (TPMS) (ABP)

This Application Best Practice (ABP) demonstrates how to model and simulate a two-fluid heat exchanger that uses Triply Periodic Minimal Surface (TPMS) structures to enhance thermal performance, guiding you through the full workflow from geometry preparation to CFD analysis while highlighting the advantages of TPMS designs such as high surface area, efficient heat transfer, and reduced pressure drop. It explains how to build and prepare the heat exchanger geometry using Ansys Discovery™ 3D product simulation software, generate a robust polyhedral mesh with the fault-tolerant method in Ansys Fluent® fluid simulation software Meshing, and perform a conjugate heat transfer simulation in Ansys Fluent software to predict flow behavior, temperature distribution, and pressure losses. It also outlines key inputs, modeling considerations, and best practices for handling complex TPMS geometries, ultimately enabling you to evaluate advanced, manufacturable heat exchanger concepts and explore innovative designs suited for additive manufacturing. 

Learning Outcomes:

Following completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Identify when and why TPMS-based geometries are beneficial for heat exchanger applications, including their impact on surface area, flow behavior, and thermal performance. 
• Build and prepare a two-fluid heat exchanger model, including TPMS geometry creation and definition of fluid and solid regions. 
• Generate a high-quality mesh for complex geometries using the fault-tolerant meshing workflow and appropriate boundary layer settings. 
• Set up and run a conjugate heat transfer simulation to predict temperature distribution, pressure drop, and flow characteristics. 
• Evaluate simulation results to assess the performance of advanced heat exchanger designs and support innovative, manufacturable solutions. 

Prerequisites:

• Geometry creation in Ansys Discovery software.
• Fault-Tolerant method workflow in Ansys Fluent Meshing.
• Fluid flow with conjugate heat transfer in Ansys Fluent software.

Please note: These training materials were developed and tested in the 2026R1 release.