Case Study: KW Micro Power achieves 44% mass reduction and embedded conformal cooling with nTopology

KW Micro Power Creates Lightweight Multifunctional Microturbine Housing with Embedded Cooling Channels

KW Micro Power, a Florida-based designer and manufacturer of high power density Auxiliary Power Units (APUs) for commercial and military aviation, needed to drastically reduce mass and improve thermal management of a compact turbogenerator housing for airborne use where every gram counts. They partnered with nTopology, using its software and DfAM workflows to reengineer the metal housing for additive manufacturing.

nTopology’s generative-design tools converted the housing into a hollow shell with variable wall thickness and embedded conformal cooling channels, automatically smoothening internal features for AM. The result: a 44% weight reduction (about 10.4 kg to 5.9 kg), a 33% drop in maximum operating temperature, an 86% reduction in external temperature down to 27°C, fuel preheated to 55°C, consolidation of three functions into a single part, and a DfAM redesign completed in under one day; the part was produced via LPBF on VELO3D Sapphire in Aluminum F357.

KW Micro Power

Enrique Enriquez

President