Additive Manufacturing Aluminum Heat Exchanger (AMAHE)

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The aviation industry is pushing the next generation of aircrafts for lighter and more efficient planes. One approach to achieve this goal is the integration of heat exchanger designs into more and more aircraft components. Heat exchangers (HE) are used in aircrafts to transfer heat away from critical components by integrating complex cooling channels and cavities, facilitating the parts to be used to higher operating temperatures. Up until now HE designs have been limited by the constraints of traditional manufacturing techniques. Here we present a collaborative project between Pratt & Whitney Canada and McGill University to utilise Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) Additive manufacturing to counteract the issue associated with traditional manufacturing techniques to study HE-integrated component. LPBF is a layer by layer production technique which allows designers freedom to produce previously unimaginable parts without the need for secondary machining. This technique is perfectly suited to the manufacturing and inclusion of HE designs into conventional aircraft components. The layer by layer production allows the incorporation of complex cooling channels, thin wall sections and tailored surface roughness to maximise surface area, and therefore heat transfer. This project involves the design of bespoke heat exchanger components by P&WC, which will then be printed and characterised at McGill University to elucidate the potential of this methodology for future technological innovation. Second to this, McGill University will investigate the potential of a patent pending alloy composition with specifically tailored properties for HE Aerospace environments. The work project will train 2 M.Eng students, which will be assisted by one RA and one technician from Prof. Brochu's team.