V-Shaped Sheet Metal Ring Heat Exchanger Weight Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing heat exchangers for internal combustion engines are heavy and costly due to their solid ring design, which complicates manufacturing and increases material usage, hindering economical production and ecological efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A heat exchanger with a V-shaped sheet metal ring around the base pipe, featuring a web-connected V-shaped cross-section that reduces weight and height, allowing for a lighter and more economical design while maintaining structural integrity and sealing effectiveness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a solid ring design is used around the base pipe, then the heat exchanger achieves sufficient structural strength and sealing, but the component weight increases and manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The ring is divided into multiple legs (at least two) that are arranged radially around the base pipe instead of using a solid continuous ring. This segmentation maintains the necessary structural strength and sealing functionality while significantly reducing the amount of material required, thereby decreasing component weight.
Solution Approach 2:
The legs are positioned at specific locations around the circumference of the base pipe where structural support and sealing are most needed. This local placement of material provides strength and sealing effectiveness only where required, rather than distributing material uniformly throughout a solid ring, thus optimizing the strength-to-weight ratio.
2Stability of the object's composition
If a solid ring design is used around the base pipe, then the heat exchanger achieves sufficient structural integrity, but the manufacturing effort and material usage increase
Solution Approach 1:
The ring structure is segmented into multiple discrete legs that can be manufactured separately and then assembled around the base pipe. This segmentation simplifies the manufacturing process compared to producing a solid ring, as each leg requires less material and can be formed more easily, reducing overall manufacturing effort.
Solution Approach 2:
The legs are designed with thin-walled construction rather than solid material, which reduces material usage and simplifies manufacturing. The thin-walled legs maintain sufficient structural integrity through their geometric configuration and positioning, making them easier to manufacture while preserving the necessary structural stability.
3Reliability
If legs are arranged radially around the base pipe, then the ring achieves sufficient sealing contact, but the height of the ring increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using a full 360-degree solid ring, the invention uses a partial arrangement of legs around the base pipe circumference. This partial action provides sufficient sealing contact at the critical locations where legs contact the base pipe, while eliminating the need for material and height in regions where sealing is not required, thus reducing overall ring height.
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing function is achieved through radial arrangement of legs around the base pipe rather than through axial height. The legs extend radially outward to contact the base pipe surface, transferring the sealing requirement from the axial dimension to the radial dimension, thereby reducing the ring height while maintaining sealing effectiveness.
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 V-shaped sheet metal ring design reduces component weight, simplifies manufacturing, and enhances weight distribution, enabling more efficient thermal management and cost-effective production while maintaining the heat exchanger's sealing and structural integrity.
Implementation Method 1
The legs (9) are aligned in a V-shape in relation to one another in its cross section. The legs (9) are connected to one another at one of their respective ends via a web (10).
Implementation Method 2
Within the heat exchanger, the exhaust gas comes into contact with a cooling fluid without being mixed, as a result of which a temperature difference existing between the two fluids is exchanged.
Implementation Method 3
The base tube connected to the tube sheets forms a chamber through which the cooling fluid can flow and through which the exhaust gas passes via the tube bundle.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3
AI summary
A heat exchanger for an internal combustion engine, comprising a base tube (2) with a circumferential ring (8) and end tube sheets (3) connected to the base tube (2), wherein an end cap (12, 13) is arranged in the region of each tube sheet (3), one of which end caps (13) has a circumferential outwardly directed crimp (14) which is engaged by a releasable clamping element (15) and connected to the ring (8), wherein a circumferential sealing element (16) is arranged between the crimp (14) and the ring (8). According to the invention, the ring (8) is made of sheet metal and is arranged between the end tube sheets (3). Furthermore, the ring (8) has legs (9) in its cross-section that are oriented in a V-shape relative to each other. The legs (9) have flanges (11) at their ends and are connected to each other via a web (10).