Additive Manufacturing Sensor Adapter for Thermal Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional adapters for temperature conditioning of sensors are bulky due to their design, which limits their cooling/heating capacity and requires larger installation spaces, making them unsuitable for applications with space constraints, and they often rely on welds or soldered connections that are prone to failure under thermal stress.
Innovation Solution
An integrally formed adapter with a complex geometry cavity, manufactured using additive manufacturing processes, which eliminates the need for welds or soldered connections and allows for optimized cooling/heating performance by using helical or curved channels, reducing the overall size while maintaining stability and improving thermal conductivity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If conventional adapters are designed with turned and milled parts using machining production methods, then the adapter provides structural stability, but the adapter exhibits large installation space requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The adapter is designed as an integrally formed single piece combining the housing, cavity, supply line, discharge line, and recess into one monolithic structure. This eliminates the need for separate stability-reinforcing elements that would increase installation space, while the integral design inherently provides structural stability through continuous material distribution.
Solution Approach 2:
The additive manufacturing process enables localized material deposition only where structurally necessary, creating variable wall thicknesses and strategic reinforcement zones within the integral structure. This optimizes strength-to-volume ratio by concentrating material in high-stress areas while minimizing material in low-stress regions.
2Stability of the object's composition
If conventional adapters are designed with turned and milled parts, then the adapter provides structural stability, but the manufacturing cost increases and material waste occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The adapter is manufactured as a single integrally formed piece using additive manufacturing, eliminating multiple machining operations, assembly steps, and associated costs. The process creates the complete structure including all cavities, channels, and reinforcement features in one manufacturing cycle, significantly reducing labor and machine time costs.
Solution Approach 2:
Additive manufacturing recycles excess powder material back into the manufacturing process, converting what would be waste into reusable feedstock. This contrasts with subtractive machining where material is permanently removed and discarded, dramatically improving material efficiency and reducing waste disposal costs.
3Ease of manufacture
If conventional adapters use welds or soldered connections, then the adapter can be assembled from separate parts, but the connections are prone to failure under thermal stress
Solution Approach 1:
The adapter is designed as an integrally formed single piece where the housing, cavity, supply line, discharge line, and recess are all monolithically connected. This eliminates all welds, soldered joints, and mechanical fasteners that would be potential failure points under thermal cycling, while the additive manufacturing process maintains full structural integrity throughout the part.
Solution Approach 2:
The design extracts and removes all separate components and joining methods from the adapter structure. By eliminating sub-assemblies that require welding or soldering, the invention removes the source of connection reliability problems while maintaining functional integration through the integral design.
4Ease of manufacture
If conventional adapters are designed with simple cavity geometries, then the manufacturing process is simplified, but the cooling/heating capacity is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The cavity features helical and curved channels instead of simple straight paths, increasing the surface area and length of the temperature conditioning medium flow path. These curved geometries enhance thermal exchange between the medium and adapter walls, significantly improving cooling and heating capacity while remaining manufacturable through additive processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The cavity design incorporates three-dimensional helical pathways that utilize vertical and radial dimensions rather than confined two-dimensional planar channels. This spatial utilization increases the effective heat exchange surface area within the same footprint, boosting thermal capacity without proportionally increasing part size.
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 adapter achieves enhanced cooling/heating performance with reduced size, increased stability, and lower manufacturing costs, while avoiding material waste and potential failure points from welds or soldered connections, thus effectively protecting sensors from extreme temperatures.
Implementation Method 1
The adapter comprises a cavity (6) in which a temperature conditioning medium (8) can flow around the recess (7)... the adapter achieves enhanced cooling/heating performance
Implementation Method 2
a fluid temperature conditioning medium (8) can be circulated from the supply line (4) through the cavity (6) to the discharge line (5)
Data Source
AI summary
An adapter for circulating a fluid temperature conditioning medium to cool or heat a pressure sensor includes a supply line, a discharge line and a cavity defined by the adapter integrally with the supply line and the discharge line in a manner connecting the supply line and the discharge line in such a way that the fluid temperature conditioning medium can be circulated from the supply line through the cavity to the discharge line. A recess is defined by the adapter integrally with the supply line, the discharge line and the cavity and configured to receive the pressure sensor.