Hierarchical triply periodic minimal surface structures as heat exchangers and reactors
AssigneeLawrence Livermore National Security, LLC
InventorsPratanu Roy, Du Nguyen, Joshuah K. Stolaroff
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Abstract
The present disclosure relates to a transport mechanism apparatus for transporting at least one of a gas or a fluid. The transport mechanism may have an inlet, an outlet and a triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS) structure. The TPMS structure is formed in a layer-by-layer three dimensional (3D) printing operation to include cells propagating in three dimensions, where the cells include wall portions having openings, and where the cells form a plurality of flow paths throughout the transport mechanism from the inlet to the outlet, and where the cells form the inlet and the outlet.
Claims21
A transport mechanism apparatus for transporting at least one of a gas or a liquid, the apparatus comprising:
- an inlet;
- an outlet;
- a triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS) structure formed in a three dimensional (3D) printing operation to include cells propagating in three dimensions, where the cells include wall portions having openings, and where the cells form a plurality of flow paths throughout the transport mechanism apparatus from the inlet to the outlet, and where the cells form the inlet and the outlet, and where the cells have an engineered construction feature which creates a non-uniform construction for the cells over a length of the TPMS structure between the inlet and the outlet;
- and
- wherein the cells form a hierarchical structure.
A transport mechanism apparatus for transporting at least one of a gas or a liquid, the apparatus comprising:
- an inlet;
- an outlet;
- a triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS) structure formed in a layer-by-layer three dimensional (3D) printing operation to include cells propagating in three dimensions, where the cells include wall portions having openings, and where the cells form a plurality of flow paths throughout the transport mechanism apparatus from the inlet to the outlet, and where the cells form the inlet and the outlet, and where the cells have an engineered construction feature which creates a non-uniform construction for the cells over a length of the TPMS structure between the inlet and the outlet;
- and
- at where the engineered construction feature creates the cells with at least one of a wall thickness or a dimension which is non-uniform to form a hierarchical structure, in a predetermined manner, across at least one of a length (X plane), a height (Y plane) or depth (Z plane) of the apparatus.
A method for forming a transport mechanism for transporting at least one of a gas or a liquid, comprising:
- using a three dimensional (3D) printing operation to form the transport mechanism with an inlet and an outlet;
- controlling the 3D printing operation in inlet to create the transport mechanism as a triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS) structure formed in a layer-by-layer process using the 3D printing operation;
- and
- further controlling the 3D printing operation such that the TPMS structure includes cells propagating in three dimensions, where the cells include wall portions having openings, and where the cells form a plurality of flow paths throughout the transport mechanism from the inlet to the outlet, and where the cells where the cells have an engineered construction feature which creates a non-uniform construction for the cells over a length of the TPMS structure between the inlet and the outlet, and where the engineered construction feature causes the cells to be formed with at least one of:
- a varying dimension throughout the transport mechanism;
- or
- a varying wall thickness throughout the transport mechanism;
- to form a hierarchical structure.
A transport mechanism apparatus for transporting at least one of a gas or a liquid, comprising:
- an inlet;
- an outlet;
- a central portion between the inlet and the outlet;
- a triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS) structure formed in a three dimensional (3D) printing operation to include cells propagating in three dimensions, where the cells include wall portions having openings, and where the cells form a plurality of flow paths throughout the transport mechanism apparatus from the inlet to the outlet, and where the cells form the inlet and the outlet;
- and
- wherein the cells decrease smoothly in size moving from the inlet and outlet towards the central portion of the transport mechanism apparatus.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.