One-Piece 3D Printed Static Mixer for Stable Mixing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing static mixers face challenges in achieving stable and cost-effective production, particularly when manufacturing complex shapes required for optimal mixing, which leads to high costs and difficulties in producing small, precise dosage quantities due to complex assembly and welding processes.
Innovation Solution
A one-piece design for the mixer insert and cladding tube, produced using iterative 3D printing, which reduces manufacturing costs and enhances stability by integrating the mixer insert directly into the cladding tube, allowing for more complex structures and improved flow resistance management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If mixer inserts are manufactured separately from the cladding tube using complex assembly or casting processes, then complex shapes required for optimal mixing can be achieved, but manufacturing and assembly costs dramatically increase
Solution Approach 1:
The mixer insert and cladding tube are merged into a single integrated component manufactured as one piece using 3D printing technology. This eliminates separate manufacturing and assembly processes, dramatically reducing costs while maintaining the complex internal geometry required for optimal mixing performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The manufacturing method transitions from traditional injection molding or casting to additive manufacturing (3D printing). This parameter change in the manufacturing process enables cost-effective production of complex geometries that would be prohibitively expensive or impossible to produce using conventional methods.
2Reliability
If the cladding tube is subjected to high pressure during operation, then mixing function is maintained, but the tube increases its inner diameter causing difficulty in achieving exact volume output
Solution Approach 1:
The integrated mixer insert design creates structural reinforcement that preemptively counteracts the pressure-induced expansion of the cladding tube. The insert acts as an internal support structure that maintains the tube's dimensional stability even under high operating pressures, ensuring consistent volume dosing accuracy.
3Shape
If iterative manufacturing processes like 3D printing are used to produce mixer inserts, then complex structures that cannot be realized by injection molding can be produced, but manufacturing time and process complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The digital model of the mixer insert is prepared in advance with all complex geometries and internal structures fully defined. This preliminary digital preparation enables the 3D printing process to directly manufacture the final complex structure without requiring multiple manufacturing steps, tooling changes, or assembly operations, thereby reducing overall manufacturing time despite the additive process.
Data Source
Figure 1a~1d
Figure 2a~2c
Figure 2b1~6b
AI summary
To manufacture a static mixer (1), particularly one with an X-GRID structure of the mixer insert (3), in a highly stable manner and while preventing "breathing" of the casing (2) during pressurized operation, and yet cost-effectively, the invention proposes that not only the mixer insert (3) but the entire mixer (1), i.e., the mixer insert (3) including the surrounding casing (2), be manufactured in one piece, preferably using 3D printing. Various design variants, especially of the mixer insert (3), are described, which differ from known and patented designs.