AMTHAL

Heat exchangers play a critical role in the performance of many aircraft systems, with an average of 20 heat-exchanger units in a commercial aircraft. AMTHAL Project (Additive Manufacturing of THermal components for Aerospace appLications) brings together innovative technologies through the development of novel heat exchangers realised by advanced manufacturing. The innovative combination of novel multidisciplinary design optimization and additive manufacturing will be used to develop ultra-compact heat exchangers for the aerospace market. The project aims to bring the following radical innovations to the aerospace heat exchanger market:

* Design iteration lead time reduction (12 months to 6 weeks) - through digital manufacturing and design automation
* Cost reduction - nearly off-the-shelf (but customizable/optimised) design generation and manufacturing with no tooling cost involved, with design change flexibility
* Significant volume and weight reduction (50-60%) - though the use of novel geometries and architectures for heat exchangers tailored for AM process
* Significant reduction of environment footprint - increased fuel efficiency through lightweighting, reduced waste, and local manufacturing.
* Multipart integration - Single step, single part manufacturing with the potential of integrating with other system parts.

This project will also contribute toward competitiveness and a transition to green and sustainable production. The digitisation of the supply chain and removal of a multitude of logistical stages allows significant reduction of environmental footprint.