Application of the Progressive Forming Method in Simulation and Experimental Study of Rectangular Fins in a Heat Exchanger

Chul Kyu Jin

doi:10.3390/met10030395

Abstract

A progressive forming method is applied where stamping is continuously executed to produce the rectangular fins of the plate fin heat exchanger. This process produced the fins one-by-one instead of by bundles. In order to produce a fin having a depth of more than 6.0 mm, the forming load and effective stress according to the size of the edge radii of punch and die are predicted by forming simulation. Furthermore, the process of forming the second, as well as the third, fins is predicted. As the edge radii of the die and those of the punch became smaller, the effective stresses generated during deformation became smaller. The forming load during deformation also became smaller. The sizes of the edge radii of die and punch were set to 0.5 mm and 0.2 mm, respectively. When the second fin was formed, overforming occurred at the ribs. The punch was therefore modified so that the rib could be compressed at the same time the fin was formed. With the designed process, the inner fins close to the target size could be manufactured. The resulting fins had right-angled ribs, although the fin width was a slightly opened isosceles trapezoid due to the spring-back.

Highlights

Plate fin heat exchangers are devices that conduct heat transfer as fluids of different temperatures pass between a finned chamber and a plate
A progressive forming process was applied in order to produce the inner fins which were the key
A progressive forming process was applied in order produce thestress inneraccording fins which the component of a plate fin heat exchanger

Summary

Introduction

Plate fin heat exchangers are devices that conduct heat transfer as fluids of different temperatures pass between a finned chamber and a plate. Lightweight and high-quality plate fin heat exchangers are directly related to the shape and materials of inner fins, and the shape and materials of inner fins are closely related to manufacturing technology [6,7]. The inner fin of the plate fin heat exchanger is a product in which corrugated fins are arranged in a uniform pattern on the thin plate. Fins should be narrow and deep in order to improve thermal efficiency They should have mechanical strength, to some extent, in order to withstand the pressure difference of the fluids. The manufacturing cost of the inner fins should be low and the production mode should be in mass quantity because about 100 inner fins are assembled on the plate fin heat exchangers. Jin et al [11] used the commercial Finite Element Method (FEM) to analyze the optimization of plate type heat exchanger

Methods

Results

Conclusion