Stacked Cooler Flat Flow Pipes Rigidity Improvement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing stacked coolers face challenges in reducing the size of the heat exchange part while maintaining durability and ensuring effective heat exchange without increasing the size of the flow pipes, as external forces can cause deformation and fatigue failure at the connection points of refrigerant introduction and discharge pipes.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates flat-shaped flow pipes with a heat exchange object clamped between adjacent pipes, featuring a protruding pipe part with a cylindrical shape that opens in the stacking direction, and a rigidity improving part to enhance the front end cooling pipe's rigidity, preventing deformation when external forces are applied.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the connection part of the front end cooling pipe and refrigerant pipes is reduced in size to reduce the overall cooler size, then the size of the heat exchange part is reduced, but the stress concentration increases and the cooling pipe becomes easily deformed
Solution Approach 1:
The front end cooling pipe is designed with non-uniform thickness: the first thickness at the connection part with refrigerant pipes is greater than the second thickness at other portions. This local quality variation strengthens the connection area where stress concentration occurs, while maintaining smaller dimensions elsewhere to reduce overall size.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the geometric parameter (thickness) of the cooling pipe at specific locations. By increasing the thickness at the connection part compared to other portions, the structural strength is enhanced locally to withstand external forces and prevent deformation, while the overall pipe size remains compact.
2Temperature
If the flow pipe is compressed to bring the heat exchange object into close contact, then the heat exchange efficiency is improved, but the root part of the protruding pipe part deforms inward reducing the heat exchange region
Solution Approach 1:
The protruding pipe part is designed with a localized reinforcement structure at its root part, creating different mechanical properties in different regions. The reinforced root part resists inward deformation under compression, while the tip part maintains contact pressure for heat exchange.
Solution Approach 2:
The reinforcement structure at the root part of the protruding pipe part is designed in advance to prevent deformation before compression is applied. This preliminary structural preparation ensures that when compressive force is applied for heat exchange, the root part maintains its shape and the heat exchange region area is preserved.
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 configuration allows for a reduced size of the stacked cooler while maintaining an adequate heat exchange region and improving the durability of the flow pipes, preventing deformation and fatigue failure, thus enhancing the overall performance and reliability.
Implementation Method 1
a cooler having a heat exchange part constituted of a plurality of cooling pipes... the semiconductor modules can exchange heat with a refrigerant flowing in refrigerant passages formed in the cooling pipes and hence can be cooled by the refrigerant
Data Source
AI summary
A stacked cooler includes flow pipes that are stacked, each of the flow pipes having a flat shape and including a medium passage in which a heat medium flows, a heat exchange object that is disposed between each adjacent two of the flow pipes and is clamped between their flat planes, a protruding pipe part that is connected to at least one of the flow pipes and protrudes in a stacking direction of the flow pipes, and a load restraining part that restrains a load applied to a connection portion of the at least one of the flow pipes to the protruding pipe part as compared with a load applied to the other portion of the at least one of the flow pipes.