3D-Printed Flame Arrestor Channels for Dense Flow Passages
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional flame arrestors are costly, time-consuming, and wasteful to manufacture, with limited channel size due to drilling or crimping processes, and often require secondary manufacturing steps to prevent channel clogging.
Innovation Solution
The use of additive manufacturing (3D printing) to create flame arrestors with recessed channels that extend through a cylindrical body, reducing material waste and enabling the formation of high-density features like small diameter channels, which are not feasible with traditional machining processes, and eliminating the need for post-manufacturing cleaning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If conventional drilling or crimping processes are used to manufacture flame arrestors, then the manufacturing process is simple and familiar, but the production is costly, time-consuming, and wasteful with limited channel size
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces conventional mechanical drilling or crimping processes with additive manufacturing (3D printing) technology. This substitution enables the creation of complex channel geometries and high-density channel arrangements that are impossible to achieve with traditional mechanical methods, while reducing material waste and secondary processing requirements
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from two-dimensional channel patterns (limited by drilling/crimping capabilities) to three-dimensional channel structures enabled by additive manufacturing. This allows channels to be formed in multiple orientations and densities within the flame arrestor body, dramatically increasing channel quantity and optimizing flame propagation prevention
2Ease of manufacture
If conventional drilling or crimping processes are used to manufacture flame arrestors, then the manufacturing process is straightforward, but channel density and small diameter channels are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical drilling or crimping processes with additive manufacturing (3D printing) technology. This substitution enables the creation of complex channel geometries and high-density channel arrangements that are impossible to achieve with traditional mechanical methods, while reducing material waste and secondary processing requirements
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the manufacturing parameters from conventional mechanical process limits to additive manufacturing capabilities, enabling channel diameters and densities that were previously unachievable. The layer-by-layer deposition process allows for precise control of channel dimensions and spacing at scales impossible with drilling or crimping
3Productivity
If conventional manufacturing processes are used, then secondary manufacturing steps are required to prevent channel clogging, but this increases manufacturing time and complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs the channel formation action during the primary additive manufacturing process itself, rather than as a subsequent secondary operation. The channels are built directly into the structure during layer-by-layer deposition, preventing clogging through precise geometric control from the outset and eliminating the need for post-manufacturing cleaning or maintenance operations
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach results in a cost-effective, efficient, and high-tolerance flame arrestor with superior channel density for preventing flame propagation, reducing manufacturing time and costs, and minimizing secondary processing needs.
Implementation Method 1
printing, via a three-dimensional (3D) printer, a flame arrestor on a substrate
Implementation Method 2
The channels extend through the recessed surface... preventing or reducing the propagation of a flame or combustion
Data Source
AI summary
Flame arrestors and methods of making flame arrestors are described herein. An example flame arrestor includes a cylindrical body. The body includes a first end and a second end opposite the first end. The first end of the body has an end surface. The body also includes a recess formed in the end surface of the first end. The recess is defined by a recessed surface extending inward from the end surface toward the second end. The body further includes a set of channels formed through the body between the first and second ends. The channels extend through the recessed surface.