A review of recent advances of additively manufactured heat exchangers.

Number: pap. 2478

Author(s) : KLEIN E., LING J., AUTE V., et al.

Summary

Heat exchangers are a recurrent element found in an abundant number of mechanical engineering systems. The design of these heat exchangers has generally remained static due to manufacturing limitations. However, recently additive manufacturing has facilitated the production of new and previously impossible heat exchanger geometries and structures by fabricating one monolithic build layer-by-layer. For example, Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) creates approximately 20-micron thick metal layers stacked on top of one another to create a cohesive metal part. Heat exchangers can be constructed in the same way. This paper reviews the most recent developments of additively manufactured heat exchangers. Additive manufacturing is not limited to just traditional metal heat exchangers. Indeed, heat exchangers can be constructed from both ceramic and polymer materials as well. The major geometric properties that affect heat exchangers’ thermal performance are discussed. With these advancements, the question posed is whether these additive manufacturing processes can be cost competitive with traditional manufacturing techniques or if there exists a hybrid approach that takes advantages of both technologies. Additive manufacturing facilitates the manufacturing of heat exchangers that have less material, reduced volume, increased thermal performance, increased reliability, and the potential to use new materials. Lastly, the needs for further research and development of additive manufacturing of heat exchangers are discussed.

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Pages: 10

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Details

  • Original title: A review of recent advances of additively manufactured heat exchangers.
  • Record ID : 30024574
  • Languages: English
  • Source: 2018 Purdue Conferences. 17th International Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Conference at Purdue.
  • Publication date: 2018/07/09

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