Thermo-Mechanical Design of Brazed Plate-Fins Heat Exchanger Based on Finite Element Modeling Using Homogenization Techniques

Using classical Finite Element (FE) tools to model heat exchangers emphasizes the need to elaborate specific methods to reduce the size of the numerical problem. Among these methods, homogenization techniques can be adapted and used for Brazed Aluminum Plate-Fins Heat Exchangers (BAHX) including layers of periodic structures. Actually the core is formed by stacking single layers consisting of periodic corrugated fins, side-bar and parting sheets which are all made of aluminum base metals, and brazed in a furnace. So in this paper a global methodology of BAHX modeling and design is presented. It integrates homogenization techniques to perform FE calculation and localization techniques to allow applying the appropriate design criteria. Finally, to validate this methodology, results are then compared on a basic heat exchanger modeled both by classical FE tools and a dedicated software tool encapsulating both homogenization and localization techniques.