Additive Manufacturing Development of Naval Platform Heat Exchangers

The objective of the proposed work is to demonstrate prototype of a methodology guided by integrated computational materials engineering (ICME) to produce quality heat exchangers (HeX) with conformal geometry, high thermal efficiency, consistent build material, wall thickness and weight, and realistic reliability factors. This work will account for the repeated scan path crossing at the cooling channels, compensate for the distortions due to residual stresses for the thin curved walls, and manage the microstructure evolution and mechanical properties for the AlSi10Mg material. The HeX design will include instrumentation ports in order to facilitate reliable high fidelity characterization of its thermal efficiency, both during its acceptance testing and its operational lifetime. Its goal is to develop evaluation criteria and reliability factors to fulfill objective requirements for a Navy HeX application during the Phase II Option I and Phase III components of this program.