A fuzzy approach to the convective longitudinal fin array design

This work considers an optimum design problem for the longitudinal fin array with constant heat transfer coefficient in a fuzzy environment, where rigid requirements to strictly satisfy the total fin volume and array width and maximize the heat dissipation rate are softened. The proposed method shows that the fuzzy fin array design problem can be converted into a regular min-max type optimization problem by employing the tolerance approach. An entropic regularization technique is then applied to solve the resulting optimization problem. Some computational results are presented to illustrate the theory and solution procedure. A comparison of results from the regular non-fuzzy optimal model and the fuzzy model is also included.