Cold-Sprayed Pipe Fabrication for Complex Geometry and Composition
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional methods for manufacturing pipes, such as extrusion and spiral welding, are labor-intensive and have low productivity, with high tooling costs and limitations in producing pipes with complex geometries or varying compositions.
Innovation Solution
The method involves cold spraying particles onto a support member to build up a pipe structure, which is then separated from the support using techniques like heating, cooling, or dissolving, allowing for the production of pipes with varying compositions and complex geometries without the need for expensive equipment or high-temperature processes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional extrusion or spiral welding processes are used to manufacture pipes, then the manufacturing process is well-established and produces standard pipes, but the processes are labor-intensive, have low productivity, and involve high tooling costs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces conventional mechanical pipe manufacturing processes (extrusion, spiral welding) with cold gas dynamic spraying, a kinetic energy-based deposition process. This substitution eliminates the need for complex tooling, heating equipment, and welding machinery, thereby reducing device complexity and tooling costs while potentially increasing productivity through a more streamlined manufacturing approach
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the fundamental process parameters from high-temperature mechanical forming to low-temperature kinetic deposition. By using cold spraying parameters (supersonic gas flow, particle acceleration) instead of conventional extrusion or welding parameters (heat, mechanical pressure), the process achieves pipe manufacturing with reduced tooling requirements and simplified equipment
2Adaptability or versatility
If conventional extrusion or spiral welding processes are used, then standard pipe geometries can be produced, but the processes cannot easily produce pipes with complex geometries or varying compositions
Solution Approach 1:
The cold gas dynamic spraying process enables local quality variations in the pipe structure by allowing different particle materials to be deposited in different regions. The support member geometry can be tailored to create complex internal structures, and the spraying process can vary material composition locally along the pipe length or around the circumference, achieving varying compositions and complex geometries that would be difficult with conventional methods
Solution Approach 2:
The support member serves as an intermediary that defines the internal geometry of the pipe. By designing the support member with complex geometries (such as internal fins, varying cross-sections, or internal channels), the pipe inherits these complex internal structures after deposition and removal of the support member, enabling complex geometries without complex forming tools
3Adaptability or versatility
If cold spraying is used to build up pipe structure on a support member, then pipes with varying compositions and complex geometries can be produced, but the process requires particle deposition and subsequent separation from the support member
Solution Approach 1:
The separation of the pipe from the support member utilizes phase transitions - either thermal expansion/contraction differences (thermal phase change) or dissolution (solid-to-solution phase change). By heating or cooling the assembly, or by chemically dissolving the support member, the pipe is released from the support structure. This phase transition approach simplifies the separation process compared to mechanical removal methods
Solution Approach 2:
The invention exploits differential thermal expansion between the deposited pipe material and the support member. By heating or cooling the assembly, the differential expansion causes the pipe to expand or contract relative to the support member, facilitating easy separation. This thermal expansion principle provides a simple, tool-free method for releasing the pipe from the support structure
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 enables the efficient and cost-effective manufacturing of pipes with high surface areas, varying compositions, and complex geometries, such as titanium pipes, with improved productivity and reduced tooling costs, while preserving the structural properties of the materials used.
Implementation Method 1
the process involves feeding (metallic and/or non-metallic) particles into a high pressure gas flow stream which is then passed through a converging/diverging nozzle that causes the gas stream to be accelerated to supersonic velocities
Implementation Method 2
The process is carried out at relatively low temperatures, below the melting point of the substrate and the particles to be deposited, with a coating being formed as a result of particle impingement on the substrate surface
Implementation Method 3
Separation of the pipe from the support member may be achieved by heating or cooling the pipe and/or the support member
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a pipe, which method comprises cold-gas dynamic spraying of particles onto a suitable support member thereby producing a pipe, and separating the pipe from the support member.