Integral Heat Exchanger Mounts via Additive Manufacturing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional heat exchanger mounts face challenges in distributing loads effectively due to the need for brazing and welding, which adds unnecessary weight, reduces available volume, and can impede thermal energy conduction, while also creating stress at the connection points.
Innovation Solution
The integration of the mounting structure with the heat exchanger core using additive manufacturing or casting processes eliminates the need for brazing and welding, allowing for a more efficient load distribution and optimized core topology with reduced weight and improved thermal performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If conventional brazing and welding methods are used to connect mounts to heat exchanger cores, then strong mechanical connection is achieved, but assembly weight increases and thermal conduction is impeded
Solution Approach 1:
The mount and heat exchanger core are merged into a single integrally formed component through additive manufacturing, eliminating the need for separate brazing or welding operations. This integration removes the additional weight of separate mounting components and joining materials while maintaining structural strength through continuous material geometry optimized for load-bearing requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The manufacturing process transitions from conventional subtractive or assembly-based methods to additive manufacturing, fundamentally changing how the mount-core connection is created. This parameter change enables direct formation of complex, optimized geometries that would be impossible with traditional brazing or welding, achieving both strength and weight reduction simultaneously.
2Strength
If brazing and welding are used to attach mounts, then mechanical connection is achieved, but available volume is reduced and thermal energy conduction is impeded
Solution Approach 1:
By merging the mount and core into a single integrally formed component, the patent eliminates the need for separate joining materials and operations that consume valuable space. The continuous material flow in additive manufacturing allows for optimized geometry that maximizes available volume within the heat exchanger assembly while maintaining all necessary mechanical connection functions.
3Strength
If separate mount components are used and brazed/welded to the core, then connection is achieved, but assembly complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The integration of mount and core into a single component dramatically simplifies the assembly process by eliminating multiple separate parts and the complex brazing or welding operations required to join them. The additive manufacturing process directly creates the final integrated geometry, reducing assembly complexity to a single manufacturing step while maintaining all necessary mechanical connection capabilities.
4Strength
If conventional mounting methods are used, then connection is achieved, but stress concentration occurs at connection points
Solution Approach 1:
The additive manufacturing process enables local optimization of material distribution and geometry at the mount-core interface, creating varying densities and structural characteristics in different regions. This local quality control allows for stress distribution optimization at critical connection zones while maintaining overall structural integrity, preventing stress concentration that would occur with uniform conventional joining methods.
Data Source
AI summary
An embodiment of a heat exchanger assembly includes a first manifold adapted for receiving a first medium, a core adapted for receiving and placing a plurality of mediums, including the first medium, in at least one heat exchange relationship, and a core meeting the first manifold at a first core/manifold interface; The mounting structure supports a heat exchanger, and is metallurgically joined to at least one heat exchanger assembly component at a first joint integrally formed with the mounting structure.