Moulded Coil Support Members for Cryogenic Thermal Matching
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional coil support members for cryogenic applications are typically made from expensive and difficult-to-machine stainless steel, limiting their complexity, thermal matching, and cost-effectiveness, while also facing issues with electrical eddy currents and thermal bus problems.
Innovation Solution
The use of thermosetting or thermoplastic materials in a moulding or casting process to create coil support members with complex geometries, allowing for improved thermal properties, reduced weight, and cost-effectiveness, along with the integration of functional filler materials to enhance mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties, and the ability to form complex geometries quickly and efficiently.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If stainless steel is used for coil support members, then mechanical strength and structural support are improved, but manufacturing cost and machining difficulty increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameter from stainless steel to moulded materials (thermosetting or thermoplastic polymers), fundamentally altering the material properties to achieve both adequate mechanical strength and ease of manufacture. The moulded materials provide sufficient structural support while being cost-effective and easy to form into complex geometries.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite material structures where moulded materials are used for the coil support member body, potentially combined with other materials for specific functional requirements. This allows optimization of both mechanical properties and manufacturability by selecting appropriate material combinations.
2Strength
If stainless steel is used for coil support members, then structural support is provided, but thermal properties matching and electrical isolation are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameters to achieve thermal properties that match the coil and electrical isolation requirements. Moulded materials offer thermal expansion coefficients and conductivity characteristics that better match superconducting coils, while providing inherent electrical isolation properties that stainless steel lacks.
3Ease of manufacture
If conventional machining processes are used, then coil support members can be produced, but complex geometries and production efficiency are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces conventional mechanical machining processes with moulding processes (injection moulding, compression moulding, or casting). This substitution enables production of complex geometries that would be difficult or impossible to machine, while significantly increasing production efficiency and reducing costs.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent incorporates cooling channels and structural features directly into the mould cavity design, so that these complex geometries are formed during the moulding process itself rather than requiring subsequent machining or assembly operations. This preliminary action achieves complex geometries efficiently.
4Temperature
If copper or aluminium sheets are used for thermal bus, then heat transfer is improved, but electrical eddy current paths are created
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameter from conductive metals (copper or aluminium) to moulded materials with appropriate thermal conductivity. These moulded materials provide sufficient heat transfer capability while being electrically insulating, thereby eliminating eddy current losses while maintaining thermal management functionality.
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 solution enables the production of lightweight, cost-effective coil support members with improved heat transfer and electrical isolation, reduced structural problems, and enhanced thermal matching with integral components, eliminating issues associated with stainless steel and traditional materials.
Implementation Method 1
A thermosetting or thermoplastic material is introduced into a mould cavity and hardened to produce the coil support member
Implementation Method 2
the thermal properties of the coil support member can also be made to substantially match the thermal properties of the coil and any integral components which significantly reduces structural problems in the support
Implementation Method 3
They also have improved heat transfer properties without the problems associated with electrical eddy current paths
Implementation Method 4
provide useful electrical isolation
Data Source
AI summary
A method of manufacturing a coil support member in which a thermosetting or thermoplastic material is introduced into a mold cavity and hardened, wherein one or more components are positioned within the mold cavity during the manufacturing process before the thermosetting or thermoplastic material is introduced, the components are then embedded in the thermosetting or thermoplastic material and form an integral part of the coil support member, and one or more functional filler materials are added to the thermosetting or thermoplastic material to improve the thermal matching between the integral components and the thermosetting or thermoplastic material.