Optimized Heat Exchanger Design with Additive Manufacturing
Here’s PatSnap Eureka !
Summary
Problems
Conventional heat exchangers with uniform geometries in gas turbine engines are inefficient in heat transfer due to spatially uniform heat transfer surfaces, which are sized for average fluid properties and do not adapt to changing conditions, leading to suboptimal performance and increased weight and cost.
Innovation solutions
The use of additively manufactured heat transfer surfaces with varying characteristics such as height, thickness, aspect ratio, and shape across different sectors within a heat exchanger system to optimize heat transfer and structural support, allowing for consistent flow rates and reduced pressure drop.
TRIZ Analysis
Specific contradictions:
General conflict description:
Principle concept:
If uniform heat transfer surfaces are used throughout the heat exchanger, then manufacturing is simplified, but heat transfer efficiency decreases due to changing fluid properties
Why choose this principle:
The patent applies local quality by varying the geometry of heat transfer surfaces (such as fin height, thickness, or spacing) in different radial sectors of the heat exchanger. This allows each sector to be optimized for its local fluid conditions, improving overall heat transfer efficiency while maintaining manufacturability through systematic geometric progression.
Principle concept:
If material thickness is increased to accommodate local stress concentrations, then structural strength is improved, but weight increases
Why choose this principle:
The patent implements local quality by applying varying material thicknesses or geometric configurations only in specific sectors where stress concentrations occur, rather than uniformly throughout the entire heat exchanger. This localized approach maintains structural strength where needed while minimizing unnecessary material usage and weight.
Application Domain
Data Source
AI summary:
The use of additively manufactured heat transfer surfaces with varying characteristics such as height, thickness, aspect ratio, and shape across different sectors within a heat exchanger system to optimize heat transfer and structural support, allowing for consistent flow rates and reduced pressure drop.
Abstract
A heat exchanger system includes a plurality of additively manufactured heat transfer surfaces in a plurality of sectors, a first of the plurality of sectors including a first subset of the plurality of the additively manufactured heat transfer surfaces having a characteristic different than a characteristic in a second of the plurality of sectors.