Heat exchanger support
AssigneeROLLS-ROYCE plc
InventorIan Michael Bunce
Life of this patent
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Abstract
There is disclosed herein a heat exchanger and an associated method of manufacture. The heat exchanger comprises a flow conduit for accommodating flow of a heat transfer fluid. The conduit is wound around a central axis so as to form a plurality of turns, for example in a helical fashion. A support member for the conduit is formed of a sheet material shaped to extend in a circumferential direction about the central axis, wherein the support member is common to said plurality of turns. A plurality of fasteners are arranged to attach the conduit to the support member at spaced locations along its length.
Claims18
A heat exchanger comprising:
- one or more flow conduits for accommodating flow of a heat transfer fluid, the one or more conduits being wound around a central axis so as to form a plurality of turns,
- a support member, the support member being formed of a sheet material shaped to extend in a circumferential direction about the central axis, wherein the support member is common to said plurality of turns;
- and
- a plurality of fasteners made of shape memory alloy and arranged so as to attach the one or more conduits to the support member at spaced locations, wherein each shape memory fastener is configured to adopt a first form at a first temperature and a second form at a second temperature.
A method of manufacturing a heat exchanger comprising:
- shaping one or more fluid conduit to extend in a helical direction around a central axis for a plurality of turns;
- forming a support member from a sheet material shaped to extend in a circumferential direction;
- arranging the support member adjacent the fluid conduit about the central axis such that the support member extends in the direction of the central axis for said plurality of turns of the fluid conduit;
- and
- fastening the one or more conduit to the support member at spaced locations along the length of said one or more conduit with the use of fasteners, wherein each of the fasteners comprises shape memory material that adopts a first form at a first temperature and a second form at a second temperature.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.