Contoured Separator Heat Exchanger for Lightweight Thermal Durability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional heat exchangers are too heavy, bulky, and expensive, with susceptibility to thermo-mechanical fatigue, leading to reduced service life and increased manufacturing costs, necessitating improved designs for efficient heat transfer in applications like gas turbine engines.
Innovation Solution
A heat exchanger with interconnected separator members featuring wave features on opposing surfaces, arranged in an alternating configuration to create varying flow passages for efficient heat exchange between two fluids, reducing weight and manufacturing complexity while enhancing performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If conventional heat exchanger designs are used, then heat transfer function is provided, but weight and bulkiness increase
Solution Approach 1:
The heat exchanger is divided into multiple individual separator members (e.g., 6 separator members) that can be stacked in various configurations. Each separator member is a discrete component with flow passages defined between its surfaces, allowing modular assembly that reduces overall weight while maintaining heat transfer functionality through the distributed arrangement of multiple lightweight components rather than a single heavy structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The separator members are stacked in an alternating arrangement where adjacent members have opposite orientations, creating a three-dimensional interlocking structure. This dimensional stacking approach allows heat transfer surfaces to be distributed through space efficiently, achieving high heat transfer area without increasing footprint or weight proportionally, as the structure utilizes vertical stacking rather than horizontal expansion.
2Ease of manufacture
If conventional heat exchanger designs are used, then heat transfer function is provided, but manufacturing cost and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the heat exchanger into identical or similar separator members that can be manufactured using the same processes and then stacked, manufacturing complexity is reduced. Each separator member can be produced independently with standardized flow passages and surfaces, allowing for economies of scale and simplified tooling while maintaining high heat transfer performance through the cumulative effect of multiple standardized components.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple separator members are combined through stacking in an alternating arrangement to form the complete heat exchanger assembly. This merging approach allows the individual manufactured components to work together synergistically, achieving high heat transfer performance through the cumulative heat transfer surfaces while keeping individual manufacturing tasks simpler and more cost-effective than producing a single complex integrated structure.
3Strength
If conventional heat exchanger designs are used, then structural strength is provided, but susceptibility to thermo-mechanical fatigue increases
Solution Approach 1:
The heat exchanger is segmented into multiple separate separator members rather than a single monolithic structure. This segmentation allows each individual separator member to experience reduced thermal and mechanical stress concentrations, as the stress is distributed across multiple components with independent expansion and contraction cycles, thereby reducing cumulative fatigue damage and extending the overall service life of the heat exchanger assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The alternating stacked arrangement of separator members in three dimensions creates a structure where thermal and mechanical stresses are distributed throughout the volume rather than concentrated in single planes. This dimensional distribution of stress paths allows each separator member to undergo thermo-mechanical cycling with reduced peak stresses, improving durability and service life while maintaining overall structural strength through the interlocked configuration.
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
The design achieves improved heat transfer efficiency, reduced weight, and extended operational lifespan with lower manufacturing costs, making it suitable for diverse applications including gas turbine engines.
Implementation Method 1
The second fluid and the first fluid are configured to exchange heat through the separator members
Implementation Method 2
The separator members respectively include an array of wave features that make the first surface and the second surface uneven and that make the first surface inverse to the second surface
Data Source
AI summary
A heat exchanger includes a plurality of interconnected separator members that respectively include a first surface and an opposite second surface. The separator members respectively include an array of wave features. Also, the separator members are stacked and disposed in an alternating arrangement with the first surfaces of adjacent separator members facing each other and attached at the respective wave features, and with the second surfaces of adjacent separator members facing each other and attached at the respective wave features. The heat exchanger also includes a plurality of first flow passages for first fluid flow and second flow passages for second fluid flow. The second fluid and the first fluid are configured to exchange heat through the separator members.