LAUSR

Abstract The area-to-point heat conduction problem is solved using a discrete binary particle swarm optimization (BPSO) algorithm. The distribution of conductive materials is optimized to form a tree-shaped conducting path, which can significantly reduce the maximum temperature of the heat-generating domain. The effects of the conductivity ratio and the quantity of conductive materials on the geometric structure of the conducting path are investigated. As conductivity ratio and filling ratio increase, the maximum temperature decreases. In addition to the conductivity ratio and filling ratio, the heat sink location is found to have an impact on cooling capacity. That is, the maximum temperature decreases with decrease in distance between the hot spot and heat sink. In addition, the structural features of the conducting path produced according to different objectives are characterized.