High Performance Engine Warm-up Thermo-fluid-dynamic Analysis

Luxury car market is characterized by a more and more increasing demand of high performance engines, and this requires high specific power outputs and a continuous evolution of technical solutions. This trend implies consequently, higher amounts of heat to be released from the cooling system. The latter requires special care in design since it must release as much heat as possible from the engine without compromising the aerodynamic performance of the car. In this paper the results of thermo-fluid-dynamic model of an 8 cylinder high-performance engine cooling system are shown. The model has been validated by both thermal and hydraulic experimental data. In particular, this study has been carried out on simulation of the warm up procedure and deep attention was given to the thermostat behavior and to the heat exchange phenomena during this procedure. The goal of this activity was not only to perform a dedicated simulation model to analyze the complex heat exchange phenomena and to highlight eventual critical aspects, but also to define a methodology to optimize the cooling system and its components.