REDESIGN AND NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF AN AEROSPACE HEAT EXCHANGER FOR LASER POWDER BED FUSION

Abstract

Additive manufacturing (AM) enables the creation of heat exchangers with complex geometries that are difficult to produce using traditional manufacturing methods. This thesis focuses on the design and numerical analysis of a fuel oil heat exchanger for an aircraft engine, optimized for Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF). The design features a Diamond Triply Periodic Minimal Surface (TPMS) lattice in the heat exchanger core. A steady-state heat transfer simulation using the k-omega SST model evaluated the effects of lattice wall thickness, material, and fluid flow rate on fuel temperature. The results show that variations in lattice wall thickness and material properties have minimal influence on fuel temperature, with fluid thermal resistance being the dominant factor. The study confirms that the AM heat exchanger performs comparably to conventional designs while being approximately 20% lighter.