Daim ntawv thov ntawm cov txheej txheem tshiab aluminium hauv kev ua haujlwm ntawm radiators
Aluminum alloy is one of the most widely used metals in radiator manufacturing. Aluminum alloy has the characteristics of low density, high thermal conductivity, good ductility, and high strength. It is a key material for the production of lightweight, high-performance heat dissipation components. The processing technology of aluminum alloy radiator includes extrusion, stamping, milling, tooth shovel, die-casting, friction stir welding, brazing and so on.
In recent years, some new aluminum processing technologies have emerged, which have demonstrated advantages in terms of dimensional accuracy, product quality, high performance, and lightweight.
Controllable atmosphere brazing means that the brazing process is carried out in a furnace, and the gas in the furnace is not air, but nitrogen is added to maintain product temperature uniformity in an oxygen-free nitrogen environment. In June 2021, Seco/Warwick and the well-known domestic radiator company Suzhou Retech Cooling Technology Co., Ltd. ("Retech") reached a cooperation to deliver a controlled atmosphere aluminum brazing production line for its electric vehicle battery cold plate project. At the same time, Seco /Warwick will also serve the production of Retech's 5G base station heat exchangers. Vacuum brazing is a joining method that hardly melts the base material. Because the furnace is in a vacuum state, the temperature in the furnace can be controlled and adjusted with high precision. It is suitable for joining precision parts that require strict dimensional accuracy. Showa Denko uses a vacuum brazing process to produce aluminum radiators for electric vehicle power modules (PM).
The PM of an electric vehicle is an important component that helps to improve the performance of the entire vehicle, helping to extend the cruising range of the electric vehicle and improve energy efficiency. Since the PM must be installed in a limited space in the car, the PM radiator is required to have a compact structure, a high degree of freedom in installation methods, and high efficiency and high heat dissipation. The PM aluminum radiator manufactured by Showa Denko by vacuum brazing is small in size. The aluminum fin for heat dissipation is directly connected to the insulating substrate, and the flexible design of the location of the cooling water circuit is flexibly designed to achieve versatility and high heat dissipation effect.
TWI invented a disruptive technology called CoreFlow™, which can process the material below the subsurface of the workpiece without melting the workpiece. CoreFlow ™ is a further development of friction stir welding (FSW) and friction stir channel (FSC), which makes it possible to integrate cooling circuit channels into two-dimensional or three-dimensional integral parts in a single processing step. These channels can be used for heat exchangers or other products. CoreFlow™ technology is an alternative and efficient manufacturing process for thermal management systems, such as cold plates for IGBTs, LEDs, and CPU/GPU or integrated liquid cooling enclosures for motors, batteries, power supplies, etc.
The geometry of the radiator may be relatively simple due to the limitations of the production process, but the additive manufacturing (AM) of metal materials provides manufacturers with the opportunity to fundamentally change the design and production of the radiator. Generally, heat exchangers and radiators are linear, rectangular, tubular, or shell designs; therefore, installation in confined spaces can be challenging. AM can design and install heat exchangers into irregular spaces, which are usually smaller and lighter than traditional spaces, but with the same performance. AM also allows multiple parts to be made into one piece, which reduces the amount of welding required or does not require welding at all, thereby reducing the probability of coolant leakage. PWR engineers designed a heat exchanger with a fin structure and tube array based on AM technology as a benchmark to test the minimum wall thickness, surface finish and heat transfer efficiency, and finally fused in Eplus3D laser beam powder bed (PBF-LB) The best-effect aluminum radiator is manufactured on the machine EP-M250Pro.
Adhesive jetting 3D printing technology pioneer and global leader ExOne announced that its 6061 aluminum alloy adhesive jetting 3D printing has been approved by its customer Ford Motor Company. ExOne's patented binder jet 3D printing and sintering process can quickly and reproducibly provide additively manufactured aluminum alloy components with a density of 99 percent and material properties comparable to die-cast aluminum. The additive manufacturing of adhesive jet aluminum alloy is a viable commercial method, and the speed of mass production is much faster than that of laser-based 3D printing, which will improve the competitiveness of additive manufacturing of aluminum alloy radiators.
