The Volkwagen Jetta front-end module is currently built by Hella-Behr in North America. The first mass production launch of Behr's all-aluminum ALEX heat exchangers took place earlier this year. Integration of an ALEX radiator within a front-end module.

Front-end modules produced by Hella-Behr Vehicle Systems integrate a structural frame, headlamps, bumper system with beam, energy absorber and fascia, engine cooling system, electronics, and other components. In Europe, modules developed in-house at the company's JIT facility in the Czech Republic for the Skoda Felicia are built and delivered to a Skoda plant 10 km (6 mi) away.

The company recently unveiled an integration concept involving an all-aluminum heat exchanger (ALEX) and the composite structural frame of one of its front-end modules. The benefits of this integration are reduced packaging, weight, and cost, as well as easy serviceability, increased durability, and full recyclability. This year Behr began mass producing ALEX heat exchangers for passenger car applications.

Compared to a traditional radiator of the same performance with a 40-mm (1.6-in) core and 59-mm (2.3-in) deep plastic water tanks, an ALEX radiator with aluminum tanks is only 40 mm (1.6 in) deep. Saving 19 mm (0.75 in) in depth in the front area of a car enables more design freedom in front styling and gives additional space for parts to move and deform backwards in a frontal crash. In the ALEX module, the attachments of the radiator are transferred from the original plastic water tanks to the frame of the front-end module. No additional attachment or locating pin needs to be added to the radiator itself.

Jean L. Broge

AEI October 2000