Manufacturing of a corrugated double-layered tube for the high-performance compact heat exchanger

Abstract

Compact heat exchangers are expected to be one of the solutions for advanced heat exchanger having light weight, minimum volume, and high performance to improve the uses of energy sources and contribute to sustainability. Conventional double-pipe heat exchangers allow poor heat transfer performance owing to the concentrically arranged simple cylindrical structure. Therefore, passive enhancement technique employing circumferentially corrugated double tubes has been characterized and manufactured in this study as one of the most realistic alternatives to enhance heat transfer performance. To fabricate double-layered tube with circumferentially corrugated pattern, the customized hydroforming process using corrugate forming bars was developed and experimentally implemented on the basis of the simulated bulge height, internal pressure, and contracted stroke at various forming bar diameters. The circumferential cross-sectional profiles were observed to estimate the soundness of the hydroformed corrugated tube, and the results provide a useful solution for manufacturing high-performance compact heat exchangers with enhanced reliability and applicability.