Advanced Heat Exchanger (HEX) Scaling Methodologies for High-Performance Aircraft

The current state-of-the-art for heat exchanger analysis and design relies heavily on analytical approaches which are immature and highly empirical, thus making the ability to optimize advanced heat transfer devices improbable without comprehensive characterization efforts. To address this problem, a Heat Exchanger analytical tool is proposed for rapid thermal analysis and design optimization of advanced heat exchangers. Heat exchanger characterization and scaling laws are incorporated in the model through application of fundamental physical equations and relationships to provide accurate scaling for geometry, configuration, installation effects, materials, working fluids, structural impacts, and manufacturing considerations. Component templates are incorporated to allow construction of heat exchangers, including new concepts and advanced designs, providing the means to investigate potential candidate technologies and heat transfer mechanisms that can lead to improvements in heat exchanger volumetric efficiency over current technology while reducing the time frame from concept to finished product. A multi-disciplinary approach is used to evaluate the interactions of the thermal analysis, working fluid flow analysis, and structural analysis to provide heat exchanger designs optimized for thermal performance, cost, volume, and weight. The tool will be demonstrated in the design of an advanced heat exchanger that will be tested to validate the analytical models. BENEFIT: HEXDesign provides the enabling technology, in the form of a computer tool, to design optimized heat exchangers for thermal management systems. It is a commercially marketable software package focused on meeting the thermal challenges facing air, ground, and space transportation in the 21st Century. HEXDesign provides customers with a user-friendly design optimization tool that may be applied in the design of heat exchangers for thermal management systems. The Phase II effort will result in the development of HEXDesign for commercial sale to support heat exchanger design and analysis for a myriad of markets, ranging from aerospace applications to manned ground vehicles. Potential customers in this field include both military and commercial customers. Military customers include Air Force, Navy, Army, NASA and DARPA. Commercial customers include aircraft, propulsion, automotive, and power generation companies, as well as any company that uses heat exchangers to cool components.