IHI Corporation

Techniques and structures within heat exchangers designed to enhance heat transfer efficiency by controlling and optimizing fluid flow, including baffle arrangements, jet impingement, and condensate management.

Focuses on optimizing the geometry, structure, and internal flow channels of impellers, blades, and housings to improve fluid dynamics, efficiency, or specific performance characteristics of centrifugal pumps and fans.

Combustor and fuel supply system designs that enable operation with multiple fuel types (e.g., conventional, ammonia, hydrogen) or optimize fuel-air mixing for improved efficiency, reduced emissions, or specific power cycles.

Pumps and blowers specifically adapted or designed for unique fluid types, challenging environments, or particular industrial, medical, or consumer applications, often involving debris, specific gas mixtures, or precise delivery requirements.

Development of novel motor architectures beyond traditional radial flux designs, including linear, axial, or multi-armature configurations, often to optimize for specific performance characteristics like torque density or form factor.

Bearings that utilize a pressurized gas or liquid film to create a non-contact support surface, reducing friction and wear, often incorporating specific flow restriction or airfoil designs.

Support systems for gas turbine engines, including specialized pumps, cleaning methods for engine components, mobile power generation units, and specific structural components like joints and fasteners.

Manufacturing processes and techniques for producing stator cores, windings, and coils, including lamination, impregnation, hairpin winding, and segment coil bending, to improve motor efficiency, power density, or reliability.

Integration of electric machines, energy storage, and power transfer systems with gas turbine engines to enable hybrid operation, electric starting, or auxiliary power generation, improving efficiency or operational flexibility.

Integration of power converters with energy storage devices (batteries, supercapacitors) or grid interfaces, often involving AC/DC conversion, power flow management, and fault handling for hybrid power systems or specific applications like EVs or PV.

Systems and methods for transferring electrical energy without physical contact, often utilizing inductive or resonant coupling, including antenna design, resonance tracking, and control mechanisms for efficient power delivery.

Design and integration of bearings within larger mechanical systems or devices, focusing on mounting structures, housing, endplay management, and overall assembly for specific applications.

Development of novel materials or material compositions to enhance bearing performance, such as wear resistance, friction reduction, or load capacity, often involving composites, ceramics, or specialized coatings.

Focuses on the development and application of novel materials, coatings, and manufacturing processes to improve the performance, durability, and cost-effectiveness of turbine engine components.

Improvements to the internal components and configurations of rolling element bearings, such as cage designs, separator materials, raceway geometry, or adjustable elements, to enhance performance or lifespan.

Methods and components for converting power into mechanical motion to drive pump mechanisms, encompassing electric motors, hydraulic actuators, and specialized motion converters like ball screws or solenoids.

Techniques for building three-dimensional metal objects layer-by-layer using metal powders, including powder bed fusion, binder jetting, and directed energy deposition. This theme encompasses process mechanics, equipment design, and operational control for AM systems.

Technologies for efficiently delivering power to electric vehicles, encompassing fast charging, wireless charging, and smart grid integration, alongside vehicle-side control and management of the charging process.

Innovations in the design, materials, and maintenance of seals, valves, and related components to improve durability, reduce leakage, and enable specific pump functions like high-pressure operation or automated seal replacement.

Technologies and materials for capturing carbon dioxide from gas streams and subsequently converting it into valuable chemical products or materials, rather than simply storing it.

Systems and methods for enhancing the safety of vulnerable road users (pedestrians, cyclists) by improving their detection, prediction, and precise localization relative to the vehicle, often leveraging communication technologies and specialized markers.

Systems and methods for monitoring, regulating, and diagnosing the performance and health of pumps and fans, including speed control, flow rate management, abnormality detection, and safety mechanisms like overspeed safeguards.

Systems and methods for real-time sensing, modeling, and closed-loop control of additive manufacturing parameters to ensure part quality, consistency, and process efficiency. This includes thermal management, atmospheric regulation, and precise material deposition.

Development and synthesis of catalysts with unique compositions or structures, such as medium entropy alloys, metal foam-supported catalysts, layered catalytic articles, or high-entropy oxides, to enhance activity, selectivity, or stability in chemical reactions.

Design and control of power supply architectures that combine multiple power sources (e.g., AC grid, DC battery, generators) or modular battery units, often featuring switching, conversion, and redundancy for enhanced reliability and flexibility.

Systems that employ imaging and image processing to automatically detect defects, verify states, or ensure quality control in manufactured goods, printed materials, or industrial processes.

Components and designs focused on preventing ingress of contaminants (e.g., dirt, water) or egress of lubricants from bearing systems, often using elastic seals, shields, or labyrinth structures.

Engineering approaches to improve the efficiency, control, and performance of chemical reactors, encompassing continuous processes, heat exchange integration, and specialized reactor configurations for various chemical transformations.

Production of materials where properties vary continuously or discontinuously through the volume, often achieved by combining different powders or applying specialized coatings like thermal sprays to enhance surface hardness, wear resistance, or thermal properties.

Integration of electric motors into larger systems (e.g., vehicles, power tools) and safety features for high-voltage components, including control interfaces, mechanical integration, and environmental protection (e.g., waterproofing).

Systems designed to manage the temperature of multiple components in electric or hybrid vehicles, such as batteries, electric motors, power electronics, and the passenger cabin, often using shared or interconnected cooling/heating circuits.

Algorithms and systems for planning and executing complex vehicle maneuvers, often involving cooperation with other vehicles or infrastructure, to optimize traffic flow, avoid collisions, or navigate challenging scenarios. This includes lane changes, cut-ins, and traffic congestion.

Mechanical assemblies designed to enable controlled rotational movement between components, often incorporating locking features, speed reduction, or eccentric adjustments for precise positioning.

Integration of additive manufacturing with subtractive manufacturing (e.g., machining, cutting) or other traditional processes within a single system or workflow to create parts with improved features, surface finish, or material properties, or to enable new manufacturing paradigms.

Development and processing of metal powders with specific magnetic properties, including soft magnetic alloys, permanent magnet materials, and insulated powders for electronic components, often involving precise control of particle size, morphology, and composition.

Systems that incorporate solar panels as a primary or auxiliary power source for various applications, including visual displays, remote devices, and portable battery charging, often emphasizing efficiency and adaptability.

Designs for gear systems, particularly epicyclic configurations, to achieve high gear ratios for efficient power transfer between engine shafts and components like fans, often integrating with electric machines.

Specific techniques and materials developed to remove persistent or difficult-to-treat pollutants from water, such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), micropollutants, or specific industrial chemicals.

Computational methods and design principles for generating optimized geometries, internal structures (e.g., lattices, minimal surfaces), or functional features that are specifically enabled or enhanced by the capabilities of additive manufacturing.