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Engineers have found that the one-dimensional approach to compressible flows in ducts is extremely informative and effective. This paper extends these methods to cooling airflow for engine cooling system that they may be used to understand and estimate the behavior of cooling air flow in a complex duct system.

A set of control functions have been investigated for a computer controlled diesel cooling system, using the vehicle engine cooling system code. Various engine operating conditions such as the engine load, engine speed, and ambient temperature are considered as the controlling variables in the control loops. The truck simulated in the study was an International Harvester COF-9670 cab over chassis heavy-duty vehicle equipped with a standard cab heater, a Cummins NTC-350 diesel engine with a McCord radiator and standard cooling system components and after-cooler. The vehicle also had a Kysor fan-clutch and shutter system. Comparison simulation tests between the conventional cooling system and the computer controlled cooling system using the Vehicle-Engine-Cooling Computer System model under different ambient and route conditions show that the computer controlled cooling system would offer the following benefits: 1.

A thermal management system for heavy duty diesel engines is presented for maintaining acceptable and constant engine temperatures over a wide range of operational conditions. It consists of a computer controlled variable speed coolant pump, a position controlled thermostat, and a model-based control strategy. An experimentally validated, diesel engine cooling system simulation was used to demonstrate the thermal management system's capability to reduce power consumption. The controller was evaluated using a variety of operating scenarios across a wide range of loads, vehicle speeds, and ambient temperatures. Three metrics were used to assess the effects of the computer controlled system: engine temperature, energy savings, and cab temperature. The proposed control system provided very good control over the engine coolant temperatures while maintaining engine metal temperatures within a desired range.

The increasing complexity of vehicle engine cooling systems results in additional system interactions. Design and evaluation of such systems and related interactions requires a fully coupled detailed engine and cooling system model. The Vehicle Engine Cooling System Simulation (VECSS) developed at Michigan Technological University was enhanced by linking with GT-POWER for the engine/cycle analysis model. Enhanced VECSS (E-VECSS) predicts the effects of cooling system performance on engine performance including accessory power and fuel conversion efficiency. Along with the engine cycle, modeled components include the engine manifolds, turbocharger, radiator, charge-air-cooler, engine oil circuit, oil cooler, cab heater, coolant pump, thermostat, and fan. This tool was then applied to develop and simulate an actively controlled electric cooling system for a 12.7 liter diesel engine.

An analysis of vehicle engine cooling airflow by means of a one-dimensional, transient, compressible flow model was carried out and revealed that similarity theory could be applied to investigate the variation of the airflow with ambient and operating conditions. It was recognized that for a given vehicle engine cooling system, the cooling airflow behavior could be explained using several dimensionless parameters that involve the vehicle speed, fan speed, heat transfer rate through the radiator, ambient temperature and pressure, and the system characteristic dimension. Using the flow resistance and fan characteristics measured from a prototype cooling system and the computer simulation for the one-dimensional compressible flow model, a quantitative correlation of non-dimensional mass flow rate to three dimensionless parameters for a prototype heavy-duty truck was established. The results are presented in charts, tables, and formulas.

A one-dimensional incompressible flow model covering the mechanisms involved in the airflow through an automotive radiator-shroud-fan system with no heat transfer was developed. An analytical expression to approximate the experimentally determined fan performance characteristics was used in conjunction with an analytical approach for this simplified cooling airflow model, and the solution is discussed with illustrations. A major result of this model is a closed form equation relating the transient velocity of the air to the vehicle speed, pressure rise characteristics and speed of the fan, as well as the dimensions and resistance of the radiator. This provides a basis for calculating cooling airflow rate under various conditions. The results of the incompressible flow analysis were further compared with the computational results obtained with a previously developed one-dimensional, transient, compressible flow model.

Enhanced VECSS simulation program was tested for use as a cooling system design tool. The design parameters indicated in the study were varying fan type, fan speed, engine power rating, radiator style and air conditioning condenser. The predicted temperature results were compared to the experimental data, and were found to follow the measured trends, and in cases when the exact parameters were simulated, were found to match the temperature amplitudes.

The Vehicle Engine Cooling System Simulation (VECSS) computer code has been developed at the Michigan Technological University to simulate the thermal response of a cooling system for an on-highway heavy duty diesel powered truck under steady and transient operation. In Part 1 of this research, the code development and verification has been presented. The revised and enhanced VECSS (version 8.1) software is capable of simulating in real-time a Freightliner FLD 120 truck with a Detroit Diesel Series 60 engine, Behr McCord radiator, Allied signal / Garrett Automotive charge air cooler and turbocharger, Kysor DST variable speed fan clutch, DDC oil and coolant thermostat. Other cooling system components were run and compared with experimental data provided by Kysor Cooling Systems. The experimental data were collected using the Detroit Diesel Electronic Control's (DDEC) Electronic Control Module (ECM) and the Hewlett Packard (HP) data acquisition system.