Development of additive layer manufacturing technology for aeroengine compact air oil heat exchanger

Heat exchangers are indispensable in several engineering areas.

In particular, in aerospace applications, heat exchangers are essential to ensure the proper functioning of an aero-engine.

Additive Manufacturing (AM) has the ability to create complex structures designed through topology optimisation and can be used to improve the performance of Heat Exchangers (HXs) reducing the waste and weight and therefore the environmental impact of the aerospace field.

Combining the topology optimisation technique and understanding the influence of AM on the reliability of HXs production we can develop the technology for the HXs of the future generation of aero-engine.

Furthermore, the typical material used for the air-to-oil HXs is Aluminium alloy and the AM of these materials is still a challenge.

Therefore, the analysis and development of layer manufacturing techniques such as AM, for the Al alloys is fundamental to be able to create a leak-free, high-performance HX characterised by thin features.

Finally, through the Topology Optimation tools a new complex HX design can be created and produced by AM and incrementing the thermal performances in a smaller volume and low weight.