Cellular Wheel Manufacturing via Lamella Stacking and Welding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for producing cellular wheels for pressure wave chargers with small engine displacements face challenges in achieving precise, dimensionally stable, and lightweight designs with thin cell walls, leading to high costs and instability issues, particularly with cell wall thicknesses below 0.5 mm.
Innovation Solution
A method involving the production of cellular wheels through the industrial production of honeycomb structures by stretching and welding lamella stacks, forming a lamellae pack, and connecting it to cylindrical sleeves to create a stable and precise cell structure with a cell wall thickness of 0.4 mm or less, using laser or electron beam welding for connections.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If cell wall thickness is reduced to 0.2 mm or less to achieve lightweight design and maximum cell volume, then weight is reduced and cell volume is increased, but manufacturing precision and dimensional stability become hardly possible or require considerable additional costs
Solution Approach 1:
The cell wheel is divided into modular components: multiple identical cell modules, each containing standardized cell walls with thickness of 0.2-0.5 mm. These modules are arranged radially around the rotation axis and connected through standardized interfaces, allowing precise manufacturing of individual modules to be replicated across the entire structure without compounding tolerances
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple thin cell walls are combined into a modular assembly where each module contains several cell walls arranged in a specific geometric pattern. The modules are then assembled radially to form the complete cell wheel, achieving lightweight design through thin walls while maintaining manufacturing precision through modular standardization
2Weight of moving object
If cell wall thickness is reduced to achieve lightweight design, then weight is reduced, but structural stability and durability deteriorate under high exhaust gas temperatures and mechanical loads
Solution Approach 1:
The cell walls are constructed from composite material structure combining a thin metal base layer (0.2-0.5 mm thickness) with reinforcing elements at critical stress points. The modular design allows strategic placement of thicker reinforcement sections at connection points and load-bearing areas while maintaining thin walls in non-critical areas, achieving lightweight design without sacrificing structural integrity under high temperatures and mechanical loads
Solution Approach 2:
The cell wheel modules are pre-assembled and pre-tested for structural integrity before final installation in the exhaust system. The modular construction allows quality control measures to be applied to individual modules, ensuring each meets stability requirements before assembly into the complete wheel, preventing structural failures under operational conditions
3Ease of manufacture
If Z-shaped profiles are strung together to form cell chambers, then cell structure is created, but production time increases significantly and positioning precision is difficult to maintain
Solution Approach 1:
Complete cell modules containing multiple cell chambers are pre-assembled and pre-positioned as standardized units before installation into the final cell wheel. This preliminary assembly of modules with predetermined geometric configurations eliminates time-consuming on-site positioning and fixing operations, significantly increasing production speed while maintaining precision through standardized module designs
Solution Approach 2:
The cell structure is segmented into multiple identical modular units, each containing a complete set of cell chambers in the required geometric arrangement. These standardized modules can be manufactured independently and assembled rapidly in sequence, avoiding the need to string together individual Z-shaped profiles for each cell chamber, thereby dramatically improving productivity
4Manufacturing precision
If cell wheels are produced by eroding individual cells from a solid body, then cell structure is created, but cell wall thickness of 0.2 mm cannot be achieved and material and processing costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of removing material from a solid body to create cells (subtractive manufacturing), the invention uses additive or formative manufacturing approaches where cell modules are constructed by assembling thin-walled components into the desired cellular structure. This inversion of the manufacturing approach enables achievement of 0.2 mm cell wall thickness while reducing material waste and processing costs compared to eroding from solid stock
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 method enables the cost-effective and precise manufacturing of dimensionally stable, lightweight cellular wheels suitable for small Otto engines, enhancing their durability and performance by maintaining structural integrity and reducing material costs.
Implementation Method 1
The connection of the two terminal lamellas of the elongated and curved lamella packet along corresponding cell edges and the connection of the outer sleeve and the inner sleeve to the lamellae edges is preferably carried out by welding the parts by means of a laser or electron beam
Implementation Method 2
The connection of the two terminal lamellas of the elongated and curved lamella packet along corresponding cell edges and the connection of the outer sleeve and the inner sleeve to the lamellae edges is preferably carried out by welding the parts by means of a laser or electron beam
Data Source
Figure 1~3
Figure 4~6
Figure 7~12
AI summary
A cellular wheel made of metal comprises an outer sleeve (12) located symmetrically to a rotational axis and an inner sleeve (14) located concentrically to the outer sleeve (12). The annular space between the outer sleeve (12) and inner sleeve (14) is divided by cell wall parts (19), which are oriented in parallel to the rotational axis and delimited by cell edges (20), into a plurality of rotation-symmetrically arranged cells (22, 22', 22"), wherein the cell edges (20) are located on intersecting lines of cylinder lateral surfaces (18a, 18b, 18c) with rotation-symmetrically arranged axial planes (21), said surfaces being arranged concentrically to the rotational axis. The outer sleeve (12) and inner sleeve (14) delimit a cell structure (17), in which cell edges (20), which delimit a cell wall part (19) in each case, are concurrently located in pairs on adjoining cylinder lateral surfaces (18a, 18b, 18c) and on adjoining axial planes (21). With each cell edge (20) located on two adjoining axial planes (21) of adjoining cylinder lateral surfaces (18a, 18b, 18c), each cell edge (20) on a cylinder lateral surface (18a, 18b, 18c) delimits two cell wall parts (19).