Flat Plate Stack Ridges for Leak-Free Brazed Joints
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Solution Overview
Problem
Permanently joining substantially flat plates without well-defined contact points is challenging, leading to potential leaks due to uneven distribution of brazing material and incorrect joint locations, which is critical in applications like fuel cells and electrolysers.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating ridges or rods with defined heights less than the plate thickness to create well-defined contact areas, ensuring brazing material accumulates at these points, using techniques like screen printing or pressing to apply brazing material directly on the ridges.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If substantially flat plates are joined by applying brazing material at the edges, then the plates can be permanently joined, but the joint is not leak-free due to uneven distribution of brazing material and lack of well-defined contact points
Solution Approach 1:
The invention divides the contact area between plates into multiple discrete contact points by introducing ridges or rods at specific locations. This segmentation creates well-defined contact zones where brazing material can be reliably applied and distributed, ensuring leak-free joints while maintaining manufacturing precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces ridges or rods as intermediary elements between the flat plates. These intermediaries create well-defined contact points that guide the brazing material to specific locations, ensuring proper joint formation and preventing leaks while maintaining the flat plate geometry.
2Quantity of substance
If capillary forces are used to distribute brazing material, then material flows from areas with more play to areas with less play, but areas with more play between plates do not receive sufficient material leading to leaks
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies local quality by introducing ridges or rods at specific contact points where plates meet. This creates localized zones with different capillary characteristics, ensuring that brazing material is drawn to and accumulated at these critical locations, thereby ensuring sufficient material distribution and joint integrity even in areas with more play between plates.
3Ease of manufacture
If flat plates are stacked without well-defined contact points, then the plates can be assembled, but the melted brazing material accumulates at random locations rather than at correct joint positions
Solution Approach 1:
The invention introduces ridges or rods as preliminary structural elements before applying brazing material. These pre-positioned features create well-defined contact points and guide the brazing material to the correct joint locations, ensuring manufacturing precision while maintaining the simplicity of plate stacking assembly.
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
Ensures leak-free joints by maintaining brazing material at specific contact points, preventing leaks and ensuring proper joint formation even with thin plates.
Implementation Method 1
The melted brazing material will accumulate at the contact points between the corrugated plates due to capillary forces and wet the contact point
Implementation Method 2
Since the capillary forces are stronger at areas with less distance between the opposing plates and weaker at areas with more distance between the opposing plates, the melted brazing material or plate material will flow from the areas with more play, i.e. greater distance, between the opposing plates to areas with less play, i.e. smaller distance
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a stack of substantially flat plates stacked one on top of the other along a stacking direction. The substantially flat plates define at least a first plate interspace between a first plate and an opposing second plate of the stack. One of the plates in the first plate interspace defining a first ridge protruding a first distance in the first plate interspace. The first distance is less than the thickness of the plates in the first plate interspace. The plates in the first plate interspace being permanently joined at the first ridge.