Heat Exchanger Fixing Flange Coating for High-Pressure Brazing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing heat exchangers fail to withstand high pressures of refrigerant fluids like CO2, leading to mechanical weakness and inefficiencies in thermal exchange due to complex architectures and the need for filler materials in brazed assemblies, which limits their application in compact spaces such as motor vehicles.
Innovation Solution
A heat exchanger design featuring a fixing flange with a melting coating for brazing, eliminating the need for external filler materials and allowing for a simpler assembly with improved mechanical strength and counter-current fluid circulation, enabling efficient heat exchange under high pressures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stress or pressure
If a complex architecture with multiple brazing points is used to withstand high pressure, then pressure resistance is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates the collector and heat exchange tubes into a single monoblock component manufactured by additive manufacturing. This merging eliminates the need for separate collectors and multiple brazing connections, reducing structural complexity while maintaining pressure resistance through the unified monoblock design that can withstand high pressures without requiring multiple assembly points.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical assembly methods (brazing with multiple connection points) with additive manufacturing technology. This substitution allows the collector and tubes to be fabricated as an integrated monoblock structure, eliminating the need for mechanical joining processes and reducing device complexity while maintaining or improving pressure resistance.
2Ease of manufacture
If traditional brazing with filler material is used, then assembly is achieved, but manufacturing complexity and time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the traditional brazing process with filler material with additive manufacturing technology. The monoblock collector and tubes are fabricated in a single printing process without requiring separate brazing operations, eliminating the complexity of selecting, applying, and heating filler materials while simplifying the overall manufacturing process.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts and eliminates the filler material component from the manufacturing process. By using additive manufacturing to create the monoblock structure, the need for filler materials in brazing is completely removed, simplifying both the manufacturing process and the bill of materials.
3Productivity
If cross-flow circulation is used, then assembly is simpler, but thermal efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The monoblock collector is segmented into distinct inlet and outlet zones with integrated flow distribution channels. This segmentation allows the design to optimize for counter-current flow patterns while maintaining the simplicity of a single monoblock structure, improving thermal efficiency without requiring complex multi-component assemblies.
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 enhances mechanical strength and thermal efficiency by allowing counter-current fluid circulation and reducing the complexity of assembly, effectively addressing the limitations of prior heat exchangers in handling high-pressure refrigerants like CO2.
Implementation Method 1
a coating intended to melt during brazing to ensure the junction of elements of the heat exchanger
Implementation Method 2
assembled by brazing
Implementation Method 3
heat exchange between at least a first fluid and a second fluid
Implementation Method 4
counter-current circulation
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5~6
AI summary
The invention relates to a heat exchanger, in particular for a motor vehicle, said exchanger including: a heat exchange core (3) with a plurality of heat exchange tubes defining circulation channels for a fluid in the heat exchange tubes; and at least one box for collecting (19) the fluid. According to the invention, the heat exchanger (1) also includes a flange for attachment (23) of the collection box (19), forming an interface between the collection box (19) and the heat exchange core (3), and the attachment flange (23) includes at least one surface (235) arranged opposite the collection box (19) and having a coating which is intended to melt during the brazing of the heat exchanger (1).