Engine Cooling System – Radiator

Engine Cooling System – Radiator

There are two basic types of radiators relative to
coolant entrance, downflow and crossflow.
A heat exchanger; i.e. the radiator in an automotive
engine cooling system is an important component of the There is no significant difference in heat transfer
heat dissipation subsystem. between the two different coolant flow directions,
however, there are advantages of one core over the
It is a device designed to dissipate the heat which
other.
the coolant has absorbed from the engine.
The term ‘radiator’ came from the Heat Exchanger The downflow permits the use of a baffled top tank
(HEX) of the early vehicle’s cooling system, where the that can uniformly distribute the coolant over the
heat transfer was predominately driven by radiation. radiator header. It has the disadvantage of requiring a
higher hood line.
In today’s vehicles, although almost all the heat
transfer takes place by forced convection, still the HEX The crossflow radiator, which allows a low hoodline, is
in today’s automotive engine cooling system is called as popular in present passenger car design.
the radiator. "The lecture presentations and slides are provided for educational purposes in this course. No part of them should
"The lecture presentations and slides are provided for educational purposes in this course. No part of them should
be shared outside of the Blackboard Learn-University of Windsor platform."
be shared outside of the Blackboard Learn-University of Windsor platform."
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Engine Cooling System – Radiator Engine Cooling System – Radiator

The radiator frontal area should be as square as possible In order to ensure good radiator performance, the exit
in order to provide the optimum “footprint” area for the approach temperature between the air and coolant should
fan and shroud which will make the air distribution through be no less than 15 to 20 F. If it is much less than this, it
the core more uniform. indicates that the radiator is “oversized” for the stated
condition or the flow path is too long.
The entrance of the coolant into a rectangular shaped
Radiators will have some limitations on the maximum flow
radiator should always be through the shortest side. The
rate as well. Excessive flow rates can lead to erosion
coolant tube velocity will be higher which results in a
damage of the radiator tubes.
greater heat rejection rate especially at low coolant flows.
The tube side velocity should generally not be more than
Too low a coolant velocity also will accelerate scale about 10 ft/sec.
formation which will cause gradual radiator performance
degradation and eventual plugging. The radiator is an extended surface heat exchanger
where the tubes are the primary surface and the fins are
The tube side velocity should generally not be less than the secondary surface.
about 2-3 ft/sec.
"The lecture presentations and slides are provided for educational purposes in this course. No part of them should "The lecture presentations and slides are provided for educational purposes in this course. No part of them should
be shared outside of the Blackboard Learn-University of Windsor platform." be shared outside of the Blackboard Learn-University of Windsor platform."
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Engine Cooling System – Radiator Engine Cooling System – Radiator

Since the hi on the tube side is substantially greater
than the air side coefficient, ho, it is necessary to provide
a large heat transfer surface on the air side.
The two most common types of extended surfaces are
the tube and plate fin, and tube and spacer (see fig. 17, pg. 38).
Flat tubes with corrugated fins
The tube and spacer surface is used in passenger cars
and trucks because of its cost and weight advantage.
Heavy truck and off road radiators are usually of the
plate fin type because of their much greater structural
strength.
Agricultural radiators have a low fin count (as low as 4
Flat tubes with plate fins FPI) and have bumps in place of louvers.
"The lecture presentations and slides are provided for educational purposes in this course. No part of them should "The lecture presentations and slides are provided for educational purposes in this course. No part of them should
be shared outside of the Blackboard Learn-University of Windsor platform." be shared outside of the Blackboard Learn-University of Windsor platform."
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Engine Cooling System – Radiator Engine Cooling System – Radiator
The tube side coefficient can be increased for those  Each additional row, however, contributes less to the
radiator applications where the coolant flow is in the radiators duty because the temperature differential
laminar region by using a multipass arrangement. between the air and coolant decreases and results in a
subsequent decrease in heat transfer per row, increased
Usually a two pass radiator should increase the tube
weight and fan horsepower.
flow velocity sufficiently to bring it into the turbulent
region.  Increasing the outside surface area by increasing the
number of fins per inch is an effective method of
More than two passes are generally not recommended
improving the radiator duty.
because of excessive tube side pressure drop, and the
tendency of decreasing approach temperature between There are three degrees of freedom in selecting the
the air and coolant. radiator:
In those cases of very high heat rejection and limited I) Radiator type
frontal area, it may become necessary to increase the II) Radiator Depth
core depth and number of tube rows.
III) Number of fins
"The lecture presentations and slides are provided for educational purposes in this course. No part of them should "The lecture presentations and slides are provided for educational purposes in this course. No part of them should
be shared outside of the Blackboard Learn-University of Windsor platform." be shared outside of the Blackboard Learn-University of Windsor platform."
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Engine Cooling System – Radiator Engine Cooling System – Radiator

Figure 18, pg. 40 However, increasing the fin count also decreases the
shows a 0.7” deep fin efficiency, increases air side pressure drop and
single row core increases vulnerability to air side clogging.
having 19 FPI is Generally for passenger car and light truck, a fin
equivalent in spacing of about 23 FPI is maximum.
performance to a
1.25” deep two row Heavy truck, agricultural, off highway and military
core having 17 FPI. vehicles should have fin counts in the area of 14 FPI and
less.
Radiator Design Variables
Once the frontal area is specified and the type of
radiator, crossflow, downflow, tube and fin or tube and
spacer is selected, the cooling engineer must choose a
radiator that meets the heat rejection requirements.
"The lecture presentations and slides are provided for educational purposes in this course. No part of them should "The lecture presentations and slides are provided for educational purposes in this course. No part of them should
be shared outside of the Blackboard Learn-University of Windsor platform." be shared outside of the Blackboard Learn-University of Windsor platform."
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Engine Cooling System – Radiator Engine Cooling System – Radiator

A number of radiators can meet the thermal requirement,
however, the optimum radiator is the one having the least flow 4. Spacer (fin) height. Although increasing the fin height
resistance and weight. Several radiator design variables are increases the outside secondary surface, it also decreases
available: fin efficiency. Fin height should be in the range of 0.34” to
0.50”.
1. Number of tube side passes: Multiple passes are used if
coolant flow is low and if the inlet and discharge are 5. Tube Depth: The tube depth depends on the number of
required on the same side. tube rows. The greater the number of tube rows, the less
the tube depth. Single row radiator tube depth range is
2. Number of tube rows deep: Tube row count should be about 0.7” to 1.0”
increased only if frontal area is limited or if tube side
velocity exceeds 10 ft/sec. Rows may be staggered or in 6. Fin Surface: Can be louvered, plain, “pic” hole, or bump.
line.
3. Number of fins per inch. Should keep to a minimum since
fin efficiency decreases rapidly with added fin count, 23
FPI are about maximum.
"The lecture presentations and slides are provided for educational purposes in this course. No part of them should "The lecture presentations and slides are provided for educational purposes in this course. No part of them should
be shared outside of the Blackboard Learn-University of Windsor platform." be shared outside of the Blackboard Learn-University of Windsor platform."
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 Engine Cooling System – Materials Engine Cooling System – Materials

Brass / Copper (Contd..):

Brass / Copper:
 Brass is a gold-colored alloy metal, made of copper and zinc,  How come the radiators are not made of either brass
usually 60 to 80% copper and 20 to 40% zinc. or copper? Because -
 Brass has a low melting point and a good heat conductivity  Brass is a metal that is easy to form and solder or
and has properties that make it easy to shape and solder.
braze (it accepts vibration well, for example). On the
 Copper is a reddish metal that has a high heat conductivity. other hand, copper transfers heat well, but it is a
 Most brass / copper radiators have a brass tank on the top brittle material and can easily be damaged by vibration.
and bottom of the radiator, with the tubes in the core being
made of brass, and the cooling fins being made of copper. Aluminum:
 Lead is used to bond the copper and brass joints.
 In contrast, it has the advantage of being about one-
third lighter than copper and brass and can be brazed
together without the use of lead.
"The lecture presentations and slides are provided for educational purposes in this course. No part of them should "The lecture presentations and slides are provided for educational purposes in this course. No part of them should
be shared outside of the Blackboard Learn-University of Windsor platform." be shared outside of the Blackboard Learn-University of Windsor platform."
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Engine Cooling System – Materials Engine Cooling System – HEX/Radiator: Selection

Aluminum core radiators, while not as efficient as copper  The early selection of an optimum HEX (i.e. the
core (based on same size and construction), are much cheaper radiator for a cooling system) is vital to a successful
to build. vehicle design, because it:
 For most racing applications, aluminum radiator can be
designed (using thicker cores) to be almost as efficient as a  is typically one of the most expensive components
comparable brass/copper radiator while still providing weight within the cooling system,
savings.  can have a major impact on vehicle front-end
 Aluminum radiators are not quite strong as brass/copper appearance,
radiators, so for industrial and rough service applications,
brass/copper is still used.  is a bulky item and imposes a major constraint on
front-end package, and
 There is always a trade-off, depending on the application,
one type of radiator may work better than another in certain  has one of the longest manufacturing lead-times
situations. of all vehicle components.
"The lecture presentations and slides are provided for educational purposes in this course. No part of them should "The lecture presentations and slides are provided for educational purposes in this course. No part of them should
be shared outside of the Blackboard Learn-University of Windsor platform." be shared outside of the Blackboard Learn-University of Windsor platform."
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