Design for Manufacturing of an Aluminum Superplastic AA5083 Alloy Plate-Fin Heat Exchanger

Abstract

<p class="1Body">Compact, lightweight, strong, and corrosion-resistant heat exchangers are required for many applications. In heat exchangers, plate-fin exchangers design with corrugated fins of triangular cross-sections provide high heat transfer surface area to volume ratio. This study focuses on the design for manufacturing of an aluminum AA5083 alloy plate-fin heat exchanger. The superplastic forming method is considered for the fabrication of the heat exchanger. A two-dimensional plane strain finite element model is used to study the effect of the triangular fins’ aspect ratio on the thickness distribution and the required gas forming pressure cycles. The simulation results show that the thinning in deep channels can be improved by increasing the coefficient of friction but only up to a certain limit. In addition, increasing the coefficient of friction reduces the required applied pressure on the sheet and increases the forming time. The present effort represents a necessary step toward the design of sophisticated corrugated triangular fin surfaces considering both performance and manufacturability.</p>

Complete Desensitization of Aluminum–Magnesium Alloys via Boron Addition

“…In Figure 12, we illustrate XRD from sample containing 3 wt.% B in the annealed condition showing Al reflections. A small peak at 2θ = 44.25 • indexed as (10)(11) from the AlMgB 2 phase close to the (200) of Al has been observed. Figure 13a shows a low magnification TEM image of a rod-like boride particle.…”

“…These Al-Mg alloys are also used in automotive parts and engines and as heat exchangers in the petroleum industry [10] due to their excellent weldability, high strength-to-weight ratio, and formability. However, welding can cause sensitization in the heat affected zone, which results in IGC in the heat exchangers used even at low temperatures.…”