Vol. 60 No. 1 (2023)   New Products & Technologies
Technical Papers

Development of Compact and High-performance Heat Exchangers Using Metal Additive Manufacturing

HIROYUKI NAKAHARAI
KOICHI TANIMOTO
YOICHI UEFUJI
YUTA TAKAHASHI
MASAYA HATANAKA
TOSHIFUMI KANNO

Improvements in metal additive manufacturing (AM) technology in recent years have enabled forming very precise shapes. By utilizing this technology, it is possible to realize unprecedented high-performance heat exchangers. Heat exchangers are used in a variety of products, and for example, in products for mobility such as vehicles, space equipment and ships, reducing the size and weight of onboard equipment they have can contribute to improving fuel efficiency and enhancing dynamic performance. We have examined prototypes, performance tests, and quality assurance of heat exchangers for mobility products utilizing AM technology (hereinafter "AM heat exchanger(s)"), which this report introduces, and have confirmed that the weight and volume can be reduced by half compared to the conventionally used heat exchangers.