Hydraulic Manifold

Starting from the original manifold designed for traditional production processing, each internal duct was redesigned. This allowed each duct to be parameterized to control key properties such as: Length; Thicknesses; Shape; path. This allowed total control to optimize flow and material utilization.

From the File CAD of the component, we started with the identification and determination of the load cases for the initial choice of the material through finite element analysis (FEM analysis) driven by CAD/CAE Software. This allowed us to identify the first critical issues and to preliminarily choose the material to continue the design process and prepare the design for optimization.

Using the most advanced optimization techniques, once the ducts and all the preserved geometries were obtained, the overall optimization of the manifold structure was carried out through dedicated software to combine all these geometries. Taking advantage of generative design techniques, different solutions were studied and reconstructed, looking for the best one that would satisfy all process constraints and obtain the optimal relationship between mass and stiffness of the structure. Finally, given the complexity of the structure, in order to avoid a huge number of support structures and optimize the production cost at the same time, we decided to infill and use the latest generation TPMS lattice structures as support, in particular, the gyroid cell shape was used. The complete filling of the structure was carried out to obtain a component that would continue to comply with all requirements and, at the same time, reduce the number and time of post-processing and facilitate subsequent post-processing (CNC machining) and handling operations during service periods.

Additive manufacturing through Laser-Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) + CNC machining

Using 3D structured light scanning as Metrology inspection, comprehensive dimensional and geometric tolerance analyses of all elements were performed for part validation. The tests were successfully passed and validated internally.
Overall, the part was verified with a safety coefficient of more than 3 for static pressures exceeding 200 bar and burst pressures of 350 bar.
It is currently found to be in operation