Pillowplate patterns

With the above knowledge the pillowplate CAD drawing can be made.
With respect to the needed connections, tubes or headers.

Tip: Freeware good Cad program DraftSight
link http://www.3ds.com/products/draftsight/download-draftsight/

The most used pillowplate pattern is the diamond shaped version and
the square shape.

Pillowplate pattern

pillowplate perfect diamond pattern

pillowplate oval pattern

pillowplate header

The standard values for the X, Y and laser welded spots are:

40 x 60 x spot 10 – 12 mm

60 x 70 x spot 10 – 12 mm

70 x 80 x spot 12 –  13 mm

80 x 90 x spot 13 – 15 mm

The border is drawn with a closed line to have a closed plate for inflation. For Tank walls it is possible to already have cutted out the pipe connections, prior to the laser welding.

Flow lines can be welded in the pillowplate to guide the heat transfer medium in a particular path.

Example Pillowplate CAD drawing of a Bulk Milk Cooler and Heat exchanger plate.

Picture follows.

Laser welding drawing time: 20 min.

Other welding patterns used in pillowplates:

Oval pattern instead of circle.

The ovals are used in refrigerant applications and falling film coolers. Very strong pattern, burst pressure 120 bar.

Perfect diamond pattern

Used in the early bulk milk cooler tank production with resistance welding. This pattern is not better than the “not” perfect pattern. The pillow height looks higher but that is an optical illusion. The heat transfer is worse because there is less thermodynamic turbulence in the pillowplate.

Header pattern in pillowplate

It is possible to make a header in the inflation part of the pillowplate. This is done by circles or Ovals with bigger distance. The circles and ovals are then also bigger to get the same burst pressure for the header and the rest of the pillowplate.