Additive Flowmeter One-Piece Structure Eliminates Welding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional flowmeters made from high-strength materials like nickel-based alloys and stainless steel are difficult to weld without local failures, leading to complex manufacturing processes, noncompliant products, and challenges in transport, installation, and maintenance due to their solid, heavy design.
Innovation Solution
The flowmeter system is manufactured as a one-piece structure without welded joints using additive manufacturing techniques, featuring an open cell or non-solid structure that reduces weight and maintains strength, allowing for accurate fluid flow measurement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If conventional flowmeters are made from high-strength materials like nickel-based alloys and stainless steel, then strength and durability are improved, but welding becomes difficult leading to local failures and complex manufacturing processes
Solution Approach 1:
The flowmeter components (body, rotor, vanes, flanges, connectors) are merged into a single integrated structure manufactured as one piece using additive manufacturing, eliminating the need for welding multiple components together. This resolves the welding difficulty while maintaining strength through the inherent properties of the additive manufacturing process and material selection.
Solution Approach 2:
The manufacturing method is changed from conventional subtractive manufacturing and welding to additive manufacturing. This parameter change in the manufacturing process enables the production of complex geometries in high-strength materials without welding, directly resolving the contradiction between material strength and ease of manufacture.
2Strength
If conventional flowmeters are made as solid structures, then strength is maintained, but weight increases making transport, installation, and maintenance difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The flowmeter incorporates an additive structure with controlled porosity that reduces weight while maintaining structural strength. The porous design allows fluid flow paths while providing structural support, resolving the contradiction between strength and weight reduction for easier transport and installation.
Solution Approach 2:
The design transitions from traditional solid three-dimensional structures to a multi-dimensional additive structure that optimizes material distribution. This dimensional optimization reduces weight by removing unnecessary material while maintaining strength in critical areas, facilitating easier transport and installation.
3Weight of moving object
If additive structure is used to reduce weight, then weight and complexity are reduced, but manufacturing precision must be maintained to ensure compliance with regulatory standards
Solution Approach 1:
The additive manufacturing process parameters are optimized and controlled to ensure manufacturing precision meets regulatory standards. By changing the manufacturing approach to additive technology with precise digital control, the patent achieves both weight reduction and required manufacturing precision simultaneously.
Data Source
AI summary
A flowmeter system that includes a flowmeter body defining a central bore. A plurality of flanges couple to the flowmeter body. The flowmeter body and the plurality of flanges form a one-piece structure without welded joints. A rotor within the central bore of the flowmeter body. A first vane within the central bore of the flowmeter body. The first vane couples to and supports the rotor within the flowmeter body. The flowmeter body, the flanges, the rotor, and the first vane comprise additive structures.