Argon Gas Heat Exchangers for AMCM's Metal 3D Printing Machines

Discovery & Feasibility Phase

Each Conflux project commences with an initial meeting dedicated to grasping the customer's heat transfer challenges and their desired objectives. During this session, the team delved into discussions with AMCM about the boundary conditions, order of priorities, constraints and design assumptions.

Following the receipt of requirements from AMCM's innovation and engineering team, with a focus on pressure drop and outlet gas temperature as key priorities, the Conflux team proceeded to present preliminary CFD simulations, complete with estimated performance ranges. A comprehensive report was produced, detailing the optimal configuration pertaining to fin size, design, density, and channel height to achieve the target performance. This document also encompassed overall package sizing, build estimation, and an evaluation of the technical and commercial feasibility for serial production.

Proof of Concept Build Phase

Pulling from Conflux’s library of additive manufacturing optimized designs, the design engineers ultimately selected a core base model that has proven successful in other applications and tailored the packaging requirements to fit within the existing space of the incumbent heat exchanger.

Multiple elements were configured including form factor, ducts, vanes and outlets to match connections for installation. For example, AMCM requested a larger diameter of the ducts to allow for better flow rates with lesser pressure loss. These and other features were adapted and refined to ensure performance enhancement, practical requirements and specific fit for end use in the final application.

Conflux is capable of rapidly designing, manufacturing and delivering a proof-of-concept prototype due to their local manufacturing facility, equipped with several 3d printing machines including the EOS M300.

Testing

The unique demands of the inert gas in this heat exchanger necessitated the strictest levels of cleanliness throughout the build and post-processing. Conflux’s proprietary post-processing techniques, coupled with AS9100D certification, assure customers of the reliability of its heat exchangers.

With the prototype build passing Conflux’s rigorous internal checks, AMCM conducted their own in-house testing on a production M 4K machine. After passing performance and cleanliness tests, AMCM confirmed a serial production order.