UK–Singapore Collaboration on ML-Optimised Additively Manufactured TPMS for Advanced Thermal Management

The University of Bristol is seeking Singapore industrial and research partners to develop a collaborative R&D project under the Advanced Manufacturing theme of the UK–Singapore CR&D 2026 programme.

The proposed project focuses on the development of next-generation additively manufactured triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS) porous structures for advanced thermal-management and multifunctional engineering applications.

The core concept is to combine:

• high-fidelity CFD and conjugate heat-transfer modelling;

• machine-learning-assisted design and surrogate modelling;

• multi-objective optimisation;

• graded and spatially tailored TPMS architectures;

• advanced additive manufacturing;

• experimental validation and system-level demonstration.

The objective is to move beyond conventional uniform porous structures by developing TPMS architectures in which topology, porosity, cell size, wall thickness and spatial grading are locally optimised according to thermal and flow requirements.

Key target applications include:

• high-density electronics and data-centre cooling;

• compact and high-performance heat exchangers;

• battery and power-electronics thermal management;

• clean-energy and net-zero technologies;

• thermal management in aerospace and advanced engineering systems.

A further research direction is the development of multifunctional TPMS structures for simultaneous thermal management, aerodynamic flow control and aeroacoustic noise mitigation. These structures could be tailored to influence turbulent flow, pressure fluctuations, flow separation and acoustic transmission, with potential applications in turbomachinery, rotors, propellers, ducts and porous aerodynamic surfaces.

The University of Bristol can contribute expertise in CFD, turbulent-flow modelling, porous-media flows, heat transfer, machine learning, optimisation and TPMS design.

We are particularly interested in collaborating with Singapore companies or research organisations with expertise in:

• metal additive manufacturing;

• thermal-management technologies;

• liquid cooling and data-centre cooling;

• heat exchangers;

• batteries and power electronics;

• clean-energy systems;

• advanced materials;

• aerospace and turbomachinery;

• experimental thermal-fluid testing;

• product development and commercialisation.

We are looking for partners interested in jointly developing, manufacturing, validating and demonstrating a new generation of AI/ML-enabled, additively manufactured TPMS thermal-management technologies with a clear route towards industrial deployment and commercial exploitation.