Thin-Walled Pipe Edge Interlock for Dimensional Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Thin-walled pipes made from metallic sheets tend to experience loosening of interengaging elements, leading to dimensional instability, especially when the wall thickness is very low.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a pair of protrusion and recess flanks with an inclined course from the pipe outer wall to the inner wall, providing a positive form-fitting interengagement that prevents loosening and ensures dimensional stability without additional material connections like welding.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional interengaging elements are used to connect longitudinal edges, then the pipe can be assembled, but the interengaging elements tend to come loose and the pipe loses dimensional stability
Solution Approach 1:
The connecting elements feature an asymmetric inclined design where the protrusion and recess flanks form an angle between 15-75 degrees relative to the pipe radial plane. This asymmetric geometry creates a self-locking mechanism that prevents the protrusion from disengaging from the recess, thereby ensuring permanent dimensional stability of the pipe structure.
2Quantity of substance
If thin-walled material is used to achieve low wall thickness, then the pipe becomes lighter and more efficient, but the connection stability deteriorates and loosening occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the geometric parameters of the connecting elements by introducing an inclined flank design with specific angle ranges (15-75 degrees). This parameter modification enables reliable positive interengagement even in thin-walled pipes (0.05-1.00 mm), preventing loosening while maintaining the benefits of reduced material quantity.
3Reliability
If additional material connections like welding are used to ensure connection stability, then the pipe achieves permanent stability, but the manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The connecting elements are designed to be self-securing through their inclined geometry. The protrusion and recess flanks automatically lock together through positive interengagement when the pipe is assembled, eliminating the need for additional welding or other material connections. This self-service mechanism achieves permanent stability while keeping manufacturing simple and cost-effective.
Data Source
AI summary
A thin-walled pipe according to the invention comprises the following features: a thin metallic flat material (22) rolled or bent into a pipe and having a wall thickness of 0.05-1.00 mm, the longitudinal edges (24, 26) of which are connected to each other by connecting elements engaging in one another in form-fitting manner along a connecting portion (6) extending in the pipe longitudinal direction (8); wherein the connecting elements are protrusions (28) on the first longitudinal edge (24) of the flat material (22) and corresponding recesses (12) on the second longitudinal edge (26) of the flat material (22); wherein at least one protrusion (10) engages in a corresponding recess (12) such that the flanks of the protrusion (10) abut, at least partially, in the longitudinal direction of the pipe against the respective adjacent flanks of the corresponding recess (12); wherein at least one pair (32, 34) made up of a protrusion flank and of an abutting recess flank, as seen in an axial sectional plane (A-A) extending along the connecting portion (6), in each case has an inclined course from the pipe outer wall to the pipe inner wall; and wherein at least one pair (32, 34) of a protrusion flank and of an abutting recess flank, as seen in an axial sectional plane (A-A) extending along the connecting portion (6), in each case encloses an angle of 15-75°, in particular 30-60°, with the pipe radial plane.