3D-Printed Torch Block Channels for Arc Welding Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional machining techniques for torch blocks in arc welding devices are time-consuming, costly, and limited in fabricating channels with complex geometries, leading to inefficient cooling and shielding gas distribution, especially near heat sources.
Innovation Solution
The use of 3D printing to manufacture a copper torch block with internal channels having convoluted segments, allowing for enhanced cooling and gas distribution capabilities, while reducing the form factor and fabrication time.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional machining techniques are used to fabricate torch blocks, then manufacturing precision and ease of manufacture are maintained, but fabrication time increases, cost increases, and complex channel geometries cannot be achieved
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces conventional mechanical machining techniques with additive manufacturing (3D printing) technology. This substitution enables the fabrication of complex convoluted channel geometries in torch blocks without the time-consuming and costly processes of traditional machining, while maintaining manufacturing precision through digital modeling and automated layer-by-layer construction.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the manufacturing approach from subtractive (machining) to additive (3D printing), fundamentally altering how the torch block channels are created. This parameter change in the manufacturing process enables complex geometries that would be impossible or prohibitively expensive to achieve with conventional machining, while reducing fabrication time and cost.
2Ease of manufacture
If conventional machining techniques are used, then ease of manufacture is maintained, but device complexity and cooling efficiency are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces conventional mechanical machining with additive manufacturing, enabling the creation of complex convoluted channel geometries that cannot be achieved through traditional machining. This substitution maintains ease of manufacture through automated digital processes while dramatically increasing the achievable device complexity and cooling efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs convoluted, curved channel geometries within the torch block structure, utilizing three-dimensional pathways that follow complex curves and spirals. These curved geometries maximize cooling surface area and improve coolant flow distribution, achieving superior cooling efficiency compared to straight linear channels while maintaining manufacturing simplicity through 3D printing.
3Ease of manufacture
If conventional machining is used, then fabrication cost is controlled, but cooling efficiency and gas distribution near heat sources are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces conventional machining with additive manufacturing, enabling the creation of optimized convoluted channel geometries that dramatically improve cooling efficiency near heat sources. The complex three-dimensional pathways maximize coolant contact with hot surfaces and improve shielding gas distribution, achieving superior thermal management while maintaining cost-effectiveness through reduced fabrication time and material waste.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements locally optimized channel geometries with varying cross-sections and path configurations tailored to specific thermal zones within the torch block. The convoluted channels are strategically designed to provide enhanced cooling capacity near the heat source while maintaining appropriate flow rates throughout the structure, achieving localized thermal management optimization.
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 improved cooling efficiency, smaller form factors, and increased accessibility to welding joints, enabling more complex channel geometries that traditional machining cannot achieve, thus enhancing the overall performance of arc welding devices.
Implementation Method 1
a method of manufacturing a welding device using a 3D printer, including printing successive layers of a material to form a three-dimensional body
Implementation Method 2
a second channel extending through the body and connecting the second inlet with the second outlet, for pathing a coolant
Implementation Method 3
arc welding techniques which rely on supplying an electric current to an electrode for generating heat through an electric arc
Implementation Method 4
generating heat through an electric arc
Data Source
AI summary
A welding device, having a body configured to route power, a first inlet and a first outlet formed on the body, the first inlet configured to receive a shielding gas, a first channel extending through the body and connecting the first inlet and the first outlet, a second inlet and a second outlet formed on the body, the second inlet configured to receive a coolant, a second channel extending through the body and connecting the second inlet with the second outlet, the second channel having a convoluted portion comprising a plurality of segments configured to increase a proportion of the second channel relative to the body.