Additively Manufactured Heat Exchangers Patents: Who Leads 2026
- One assignee dominates. Hamilton Sundstrand holds 34 of the records in the ranking, against a field where fifth place holds just 1 — a steep drop-off rather than a spread of comparable filers.
- Filing peaked in 2020, then fell sharply. Activity ran 12 filings in 2021 down to 2 in 2024, an 83% decline over that span; 2025 onward is still filling in due to publication lag.
- Claims cluster in heat-exchanger hardware and print process, not software. F28F and B33Y each cover roughly half of the 47 records, while G06F (digital design/topology tooling) touches only 14.9% — the design-automation layer is comparatively open.
Filing growth compares 2021 (12 records) with 2024 (2) — a three-year span. 2024 is the most recent year we treat as complete: publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in and any growth rate that ends there would understate the field.
What this landscape covers
This dataset tracks 47 published records at the intersection of additive manufacturing and heat-exchanger design, captured through a search string built around lattice and triply periodic surface structures, powder removal, wall-thickness limits, surface-roughness effects, topology optimization and leak-tightness. The scope spans 2015 through the 2026-07-31 cut-off, with publication lag meaning the most recent one to two years understate real filing activity.
Records concentrate in aerospace-adjacent hardware claims — headers, fin arrangements, branching flow paths — printed in metal powder or polymer, rather than in the software layer that generates the lattice geometry. Receiving-office data shows the United States carrying the largest share of filings, with Europe and Germany as secondary venues.
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Filing trend and technology composition
The trend line and the IPC breakdown below are drawn from the same 47-record scope discussed throughout this page. Because a single record can carry more than one IPC class, the class shares sum to more than 100% of records.
Filings rose to a 2020 peak, then declined
Filings ran to zero in 2017, built toward a peak of 13 in 2020, then fell — 12 in 2021 down to 2 in 2024, an 83% drop over that three-year window. Treat 2025 and 2026 as incomplete rather than as evidence of a continued decline, since publication typically lags filing by around 18 months.
F28F and B33Y anchor the claim space
F28F (heat-exchanger details) appears in 57.4% of records and B33Y (additive manufacturing processes) in 51.1%, confirming that most filings pair a specific exchanger structure with a specific print process. B29C (plastics shaping) and B22F (powder metallurgy) split the manufacturing-material claims, while F01D and F02K show the turbine and jet-propulsion application pull for these designs.
Shares are the percentage of the 47 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Additively Manufactured Heat Exchangers with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about additively manufactured heat exchangers and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe most-cited records in this space
Header arrangement for additively manufactured heat exchanger — Hamilton Sundstrand
A heat exchanger built from two fluid circuits, each formed by a set of radially extending, coaxial fins with dedicated inlet and outlet headers. The second circuit's inlet header is shaped to conform to the circular profile of the first, allowing the two circuits to nest — a structure that depends on additive manufacturing to produce as a single leak-tight part.Filed by Hamilton Sundstrand, published 2021-07-29.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20200049415A1 | Additive manufacturing processes and additively manufactured products | 37 |
| 2 | US20200047288A1 | Additive manufacturing processes and additively manufactured products | 24 |
| 3 | US20200141654A1 | Branching heat exchangers | 17 |
| 4 | US11167375B2 | Additive manufacturing processes and additively manufactured products | 16 |
| 5 | US20210189882A1 | Surface topology manipulation for performance enchancement of additively manufactured fluid-interacting compo… | 10 |
| 6 | US20220055153A1 | Additive manufacturing processes and additively manufactured products | 8 |
| 7 | US11085700B2 | Branching heat exchangers | 8 |
| 8 | US20210231376A1 | Header arrangement for additively manufactured heat exchanger | 5 |
| 9 | US20210231391A1 | Integral mounting arm for heat exchanger | 4 |
| 10 | US11460252B2 | Header arrangement for additively manufactured heat exchanger | 4 |
Citation counts are drawn from within this searched corpus and favor older publications; treat them as a signal of influence on later filers, not as a ranking of current technical importance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Three patterns matter more than the raw counts: where claim density already sits, how fast the field cooled after 2020, and which application classes are pulling the technology forward.
One filer, then a thin field
The ranked leader holds 34 of the records tracked here while the fifth-ranked entity holds just 1. This is not a spread of comparable competitors — it is a single dominant filer surrounded by a handful of much smaller programs, which changes the freedom-to-operate calculus for a new entrant.
A sharp pullback after the 2020 peak
Filings fell from 12 in 2021 to 2 in 2024. That decline predates the point where publication lag makes recent years unreliable, so it reflects a genuine cooling in disclosed activity rather than a data artefact — worth checking against non-patent signals like conference output before assuming the technology itself has stalled.
The design-automation layer is thin
Hardware classes F28F and B33Y each cover roughly half the record set, but G06F — the class covering computational design and topology-optimization tooling — touches only 7 of 47 records. Most protection sits on the printed part, not on the software that generates its lattice geometry.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to additively manufactured heat exchangers, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the gaps sit
The assignee ranking returned by this dataset covers five named companies, from one clear leader down to entities with a single filing. Recent-year momentum across all five reads flat to zero, consistent with the broader 2021–2024 pullback and the publication lag on 2025–2026 data.
Hamilton Sundstrand sets the pace
Hamilton Sundstrand holds the largest share of the ranked records by a wide margin, with filings concentrated on header, fin and branching-flow-path architectures for aerospace-grade exchangers. Its most-cited records in this set describe additive manufacturing processes generally as well as branching heat-exchanger structures specifically.
University and lab filers stay small but present
The Research Foundation for the State University of New York and a US-based Northeastern University entity each appear in the ranking, and the strongest co-assignee pairing in the dataset links Northeastern University (US) with the US Army Research Laboratory — a single joint filing, but a signal of defense-funded academic work in this space.
Defense research appears directly in the assignee list
The US Army Research Laboratory is itself a named assignee rather than only a funding source, appearing both independently and in the dataset's single strongest co-assignee pairing. That points to direct government interest in additively manufactured thermal management, likely for propulsion or power-dense platforms.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation | 0 | -100% |
| THE RES FOUNDATION FOR THE STATE UNIV OF NEW YORK | 0 | — |
| SPECIAL AEROSPACE SERVICES LLC | 0 | — |
| Northeastern University (US) | 0 | — |
| US ARMY RES LAB | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to a concentrated leader, a cooling filing trend through 2024, and a thin layer of software/design-automation claims relative to hardware claims. Each of these suggests a different next step depending on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, competitive tracking or white-space filing.
Check freedom-to-operate against the leader's portfolio
With one assignee holding the bulk of the ranked records, any new hardware design in this space should be checked specifically against that portfolio's header, fin and branching-flow-path claims before development proceeds.
Explore assignee portfolios in EurekaWatch for the 2025–2026 correction
Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the apparent 2024 low is not necessarily the field's current state. Re-running this search in a future cycle will show whether filing activity actually recovers.
Set up a monitoring search in EurekaTest claims in the topology-optimization gap
G06F coverage is thin relative to the hardware classes, suggesting design-automation and computational-topology claims for exchanger geometry are comparatively open ground worth a novelty check.
Run a white-space search in EurekaCommon questions about this landscape
Within this 47-record dataset, Hamilton Sundstrand is the clear leader with 34 of the ranked records, well ahead of the next four named assignees, one of which holds only a single filing. This is a concentrated field rather than one with several comparable competitors. Anyone developing similar hardware — particularly header, fin or branching-flow-path structures — should review that portfolio specifically before finalizing a design.
Filings peaked at 13 in 2020, then declined to 2 by 2024, an 83% drop over that three-year window. That decline is measured through 2024, the most recent year with reasonably complete data; 2025 and 2026 figures are still filling in because publication typically lags actual filing by about 18 months. It would be premature to call the technology declining based on the newest two years alone.
The two largest classes are F28F (heat-exchanger details), covering 57.4% of the 47 records, and B33Y (additive manufacturing processes), covering 51.1%. F28D (heat-exchange apparatus), B29C (plastics shaping) and B22F (powder metallurgy) follow, reflecting both the structural and materials/process sides of these filings. Because a record can carry multiple IPC codes, these shares add up to more than 100% of the record total.
This Hamilton Sundstrand filing, published 2021-07-29, describes a heat exchanger with two fluid circuits, each built from radially extending coaxial fins with dedicated inlet and outlet headers, where the second circuit's inlet header conforms to the circular shape of the first so the circuits nest together. The design relies on additive manufacturing to produce the nested, leak-tight header geometry as a single part rather than an assembly. It sits within the same header-and-fin claim family that makes up a large share of Hamilton Sundstrand's portfolio in this space.
The clearest gap relative to filing density is the digital-design layer: G06F, the class covering computational and topology-optimization tooling, appears in only 14.9% of the 47 records, far below the hardware-focused F28F and B33Y classes. Specific sub-areas worth checking include triply periodic minimal surface lattice cores, powder-removal channel geometry, and in-situ leak-tightness verification methods for printed parts. A first claim in any of these would likely pair a specific geometric or process control with a measurable thermal-hydraulic outcome, rather than claiming the general concept of an additively manufactured exchanger.
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company’s registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.