Tapping a new toolbox, engineers buck tradition in high-performing heat exchanger

By combining topology optimization and additive manufacturing, a group of College of Wisconsin–Madison engineers created a twisty high-temperature warmth exchanger that outperformed a conventional straight channel design in warmth switch, energy density and effectiveness.

And so they used an progressive method to 3D print—and check—the metallic proof of idea.

Excessive-temperature heat exchangers are important elements in lots of applied sciences for dissipating warmth, with purposes in aerospace, energy era, industrial processes and aviation.

“Traditionally, heat exchangers flow hot fluid and cold fluid through straight pipes, mainly because straight pipes are easy to manufacture,” says Xiaoping Qian, a professor of mechanical engineering at UW–Madison. “But straight pipes are not necessarily the best geometry for transferring heat between hot and cold fluids.”

Additive manufacturing permits researchers to create buildings with advanced geometries that may yield extra environment friendly warmth exchangers. Given this design freedom, Qian got down to uncover a design for the cold and hot fluid channels inside a warmth exchanger that will maximize warmth switch.

He harnessed his experience in topology optimization, a computational design strategy used to check the distribution of supplies in a construction to attain sure design objectives. He additionally integrated a patented method, referred to as projected undercut perimeter, that considers manufacturability constraints for the general design.

With an optimized design in hand, Qian labored with colleague Dan Thoma, a professor of supplies science and engineering at UW–Madison, who led the 3D printing of the warmth exchanger utilizing a metallic additive manufacturing method referred to as laser powder mattress fusion.

From the surface, the optimized warmth exchanger seems to be similar to a conventional model with a straight channel design—however their inside core designs are strikingly totally different. The optimized design has intertwining cold and hot fluid channels with intricate geometries and sophisticated floor options. These advanced geometric options information fluid flow in a twisting path that enhances the heat transfer.

Collaborator Mark Anderson, a professor of mechanical engineering at UW–Madison, performed thermal-hydraulic assessments on the optimized warmth exchanger and a conventional warmth exchanger to match their efficiency.

The optimized design was not solely simpler in transferring warmth but in addition achieved a 27% greater energy density than the standard warmth exchanger. That greater power density permits a warmth exchanger to be lighter and extra compact—helpful attributes for aerospace and aviation purposes.

The group detailed the ends in a paper revealed within the International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer.

Whereas earlier analysis has used topology optimization to check two-fluid warmth exchanger designs, Qian says this work is the primary to harness topology optimization and impose manufacturability constraints to make sure the design may be constructed and examined.

“Optimizing design on the computer is one thing, but to actually make and test it is a very different thing,” Qian says.

“It’s exciting that our optimization method worked. We were able to actually manufacture our heat exchanger design. And, through experimental testing, we demonstrated the performance enhancement of our optimized design. The excellent work performed by the students, postdoctoral researchers and scientists in the three research groups made this advance possible.”

Sicheng Solar, a latest Ph.D. graduate from Qian’s analysis group, is the primary writer on the paper. Further co-authors embody Tiago Augusto Moreira, Behzad Rankouhi, Xinyi Yu and Ian Jentz, all from UW–Madison.

The researchers patented their projected undercut perimeter technique by means of the Wisconsin Alumni Analysis Basis.