Short Course # PD-10

Vehicle Thermal Management System

Custom designed in-depth instruction material for professional development and advancement of select Mechanical Engineers.

This short course helps the engineers acquire in-depth knowledge of Vehicle Thermal management System at the vehicle system level as well as in-depth subsystem level for Powertrain Cooling Design. Instruction delivery is (5) half-day morning sessions. The course instruction is delivered by a team of industry and academic experts in the subject with expert knowledge in vehicle systems and subsystems for thermal management.

Topics covered

  1. I. Thermal Management at Vehicle System Level
    1. Theory of Fluid Flow and its importance in component design
      • Fundamental governing equations
      • Types of flow and its impact on component design
      • Impact of flow loss on component design and solution remedies
      • Basic flow measurement methods
    2. Theory of Heat Transfer
      • Major modes of heat transfer - conduction, radiation, and convection
      • Importance of heat transfer in vehicle design
      • Analyze each mode of heat transfer and understand its impact
    3. Thermal concerns in vehicles
      • Current thermal challenges in the automotive industry
      • Key thermal concerns and issues
    4. Thermal management strategies and application on vehicles
      • Impact of different modes of heat transfer in the vehicle design
      • Review of advanced insulation/shielding materials
      • Flow design strategies in under-hood of vehicles
      • Application of thermal management strategies on vehicles
      • Review of thermal packaging and sealing
    5. Thermal Measurement Methods
      • Importance of thermal measurements
      • Review of different thermal measurement methods with merits and demerits
  2. II. Thermal Management at Powertrain Cooling System Level
    1. Scope and Objective
      • Study of different components of the automotive cooling system.
      • Demonstration of how they may be combined to produce an effective, high quality unit with emphasis on safety, quality, timing and cost.
      • Effect of the cooling system on powertrain design and durability.
      • Importance of communication and interaction with different engineering groups addressing minimization of service costs and to enable meeting all powertrain cooling functional objectives and costs within the packaging constraints under the hood.
    2. Design Procedure
      • Introduction to various components, their function and their relative location in the cooling system.
      • Model specification based on vehicle operating characteristics.
      • Sizing of radiator, fan and oil cooler to meet specified fluid stream temperature objectives.
      • Air-conditioning condenser and charge air cooler addition to the model and resizing of radiator and fan to meet the added load of these and other components.
      • Incorporation of the coolant pump, de-aeration system, thermostat, pressure cap, EGR cooling, plumbing, hydraulic systems, and drivetrain to the model.
      • Evaluation of the effect of these components on the powertrain cooling system.
      • Determination of the front end system resistance and fan curves for air flow.
      • Determination of coolant flow using the engine coolant system resistance curves and pump throttling curves.
      • Advantages and disadvantages of different radiator types and air moving devices. Evaluation and a selection of these devices based on optimum performance and minimum cost and weight within given packaging constraints.
      • Characterization of selected radiator for effectiveness and for overall, outside and inside heat transfer coefficients.
      • Supplier fan curves and heat transfer device performance curves are corrected to represent their actual performance in the vehicle.
      • Practical problems with solutions along with real life experiences throughout the sessions to illustrate typical design and development concepts.
    3. Development Procedure
      • Introduction to the different development tests required to finalize the cooling system design.
      • Importance of first doing an analytical analysis of the expected results and then confirming the results in an environmental chamber, wind tunnel or in the field is emphasized.
      • Comparison of actual performance to ideal performance.
      • The test and development procedures discussed include:
        1. Air flow non-uniformity
        2. Determination of the front end air flow
        3. Characterize the coolant pump in the vehicle
        4. Determine de-aeration ability
        5. Determine front end system resistance
        6. Determine coolant system resistance
        7. Determine vehicle horsepower and tractive effort curves
        8. Use of a towing dynamometer
        9. Determine powertrain heat rejection to the coolant at peak power
    4. Associated Areas
    5. Introduction to the different development tests required to finalize the cooling system design.
    6. Discussion of Vehicle Manufacturer and Supplier relations and responsibilities and how to most effectively accomplish the goals of designing and developing a cooling system within cost, weight and timing constraints, setting of functional objectives, warranty reduction and alternative cooling systems.
    7. An overview of EGR, diesel engine emissions, hybrid and fuel cell vehicle cooling concerns and other factors that affect the cooling system design.
    8. Open Discussion and Conclusion.