RVE Surface Mapping for Continuous-Curvature Heat Exchanger Cores
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Solution Overview
Problem
Heat exchanger core designs with high surface area to volume ratios, while improving heat transfer efficiency, are susceptible to fouling and high pressure losses due to small fluid passage sizes and curvature discontinuities when replicating representative volume elements (RVEs), leading to partial RVEs and unused regions.
Innovation Solution
A method is developed to map RVE structures onto target volumes using a surface mesh with quartic or higher order shape functions, eliminating partial RVEs by ensuring continuous curvature between adjacent RVE structures and conforming boundary faces to the target volume shape, thereby reducing fouling and pressure losses.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If RVE structures are replicated to fill heat exchanger core volume, then heat transfer efficiency is improved due to increased surface area, but curvature discontinuities at RVE boundaries cause increased pressure loss and thermal stress
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies curvature continuity by ensuring that adjacent RVE structures meet at their boundaries with continuous curvature surfaces. This eliminates sharp edges and discontinuities at RVE boundaries, thereby reducing fluid flow separation and pressure loss while maintaining the high surface area density needed for heat transfer efficiency.
2Temperature
If RVE structures are replicated to fill heat exchanger core volume, then heat transfer efficiency is improved due to increased surface area, but partial RVEs create large unused regions reducing manufacturing precision
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the RVE boundary representation from discrete faceted surfaces to continuous curved surfaces defined by mathematical functions. This dimensional transformation allows the RVE structures to conform precisely to the heat exchanger core boundaries while maintaining manufacturability through continuous surface definitions suitable for additive manufacturing.
3Manufacturing precision
If RVE boundary faces are body-fitted to target volume, then unused regions are reduced, but RVE structure is distorted producing curvature discontinuities
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the mathematical parameters defining the RVE boundary surfaces from linear faceted representations to higher-order continuous curvature functions. This parameter transformation allows the RVE structures to conform to target volumes while maintaining continuous curvature, eliminating the need for distorting the underlying RVE topology.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of forming a component includes defining a component volume discretized by a target mesh formed by a plurality of volume elements, each volume element defined, at least in part, by a shape function. The method further includes defining a parting surface within a representative volume element and discretizing the parting surface using a surface mesh that includes a plurality of surface elements and a plurality of surface nodes. The method further includes mapping the surface mesh into each volume element of the target mesh according to the quartic, or higher order, shape functions of the target mesh and forming a component based on the component surface structure produced by the mapped surface mesh.