| The competing demands for weight reduction and high performance in modern automobiles mean that manufacturers must use engines with smaller displacements and higher power outputs. Compared to past engine designs, this combination inherently generates more heat that must be removed to ensure the durability of the engine. This situation has led to the need for radiator and other heat-exchanger systems that can reduce weight while maintaining the engine at acceptable operating temperature limits. Further, the desire for more fuel-efficient vehicles and lower emissions footprints has led to smaller, more aerodynamic front-end designs in modern automobiles. Therefore, the area available in the engine compartment to mount the heat exchangers has become smaller while the number and size of the heat exchangers required to adequately cool the engine have increased. Such a dichotomy demands an innovative solution since the reduced engine compartment cannot support an enlarged rectangular radiator due to space constraints. This applied research investigated a solution to the engine cooling challenge through a packaging-based approach and focused on the radiator as it is the primary component in engine cooling systems. Factors such as bend radius, tool-tube clearance, bend angle and temperature that could affect the construction and implementation of a conformal, rather than rectangular, radiator were investigated by using Design of Experiments (DOE). Although radiator tubes sizes may vary, this research focused on tubes made from aluminum alloy A3003-O with a nominal width of 2.1 mm and thickness of 0.25 mm. The research confirmed through analysis of the results of the DOE that it is feasible to build a conformal radiator since this type of tube can be bent. It identified tool-tube clearance, angle of bend and temperature as significant factors that must be considered while bending radiator tubes. Furthermore, the research validated, among other discoveries, that there is no acceleration of corrosion due to the bending of the tubes. |
