3D Printed Spray Nozzle for Uniform Casting Strand Cooling
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing spray nozzle devices for cooling casting strands in continuous casting plants require complex manufacturing processes and significant material usage, leading to high costs and inefficient cooling effects due to non-uniform cooling distributions.
Innovation Solution
The production of spray nozzle devices is simplified through a generative manufacturing process, specifically 3D printing, which allows for a compact design with optimized air/water mixture creation, reducing material consumption and manufacturing complexity by producing at least part regions of the device using additive methods.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional chip-removing machining is used to produce spray nozzle devices, then manufacturing precision can be achieved, but device complexity and manufacturing cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces conventional chip-removing machining (mechanical subtractive process) with additive manufacturing (3D printing). This substitution eliminates complex machining operations, tool path programming, and multiple setup requirements while achieving the required geometric precision for nozzle tips, mixing chambers, and spray holes directly through layer-by-layer material deposition.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes additive manufacturing parameters (layer thickness, infill density, print resolution, material temperature) to achieve precise geometric features. By changing the manufacturing process parameters from mechanical cutting to additive deposition, complex internal geometries such as the mixing chamber and spray patterns can be produced with high precision without the limitations of tool access in conventional machining.
2Reliability
If conventional machining processes are used, then spray nozzle devices can be produced, but material consumption increases and production time extends
Solution Approach 1:
Additive manufacturing replaces subtractive machining, fundamentally changing the material utilization approach. Instead of removing material to achieve the final geometry, the process deposits material only where needed, constructing the spray nozzle device layer by layer. This eliminates material waste from chips and allows for optimized material distribution within the device structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The additive manufacturing process enables local optimization of material properties and geometry. Different regions of the spray nozzle device can have different material densities, compositions, or structural characteristics tailored to their specific functional requirements, such as enhanced strength at high-stress areas or optimized flow channels in the mixing chamber, thereby reducing overall material consumption while maintaining reliability.
3Manufacturing precision
If spray nozzle devices are designed for optimized air/water mixture, then cooling uniformity improves, but device complexity and spatial requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The additive manufacturing process enables nested or integrated design of the spray nozzle device components. The mixing chamber, air inlet channels, water inlet channels, and spray holes can be integrated into a single monolithic structure with optimized internal pathways. This nesting of functional elements within a compact volume achieves the required spray uniformity without increasing overall device size, as the channels and chambers are efficiently routed through the additive-manufactured geometry.
Solution Approach 2:
Additive manufacturing introduces a new dimension of design freedom by enabling complex three-dimensional internal geometries that cannot be achieved with conventional machining. The mixing chamber and fluid channels can be designed with optimized 3D pathways, varying cross-sections, and integrated features that maximize cooling uniformity within a compact footprint, utilizing the full volumetric space efficiently rather than being constrained by 2D drafting approaches.
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
This approach results in a more uniform spray effect, reduced material usage, improved product quality, longer service life, and cost savings by eliminating elaborate machining processes and enabling a more compact structural design.
Implementation Method 1
at least the part region of the spray nozzle device, including the air inlet nozzle with the at least one air outlet hole and/or the water inlet with the at least one water outlet hole, is preferably produced by a generative manufacturing process operating preferably as a three-dimensional (3D) printing process
Implementation Method 2
a nozzle body with a mixing chamber for producing an air/water mixture, which can emerge through at least one nozzle outlet
Implementation Method 3
Spray nozzles of this kind are known in continuous casting plants for cooling a casting strand during casting
Implementation Method 4
for spraying a casting strand during casting of metallic products
Data Source
AI summary
In a method for producing a spray nozzle device, in particular for spraying a casting strand during casting of metallic products, the spray nozzle device includes a basic body with an air inlet, a water inlet and a nozzle body with a mixing chamber for producing an air/water mixture which emerges through at least one nozzle outlet. The air inlet is formed by at least one air inlet nozzle, with a nozzle tip projecting into the mixing chamber, and has at least one air outlet hole. The water inlet opens into the mixing chamber close to the nozzle tip of the air inlet through at least one water outlet hole oriented transversely to a longitudinal axis of the mixing chamber. At least one part region of the spray nozzle device is produced by a generative production process, preferably operating as a 3D printing process.