Effect of Aluminium Versus Plastic Automotive Radiator End Tanks on the Cooling Process Under Varying Air Cooling Mode

The scientific paper is focused on research into the effect of the end tanks’ material on the automotive engine’s radiator and the effect of the air-cooling mode on the efficiency of heat dissipation under engine idling conditions. Aluminium (AL) and plastic (PL) end tanks are compared when changing the cooling mode by fan on the radiator F1, the ram air fan F2 in the range of 6 to 10 m/s, and their combination F1+F2, in relation to cooling time and heat transfer parameters. The temperature parameters of the coolant during the cooling process are evaluated, and the values for the heat transfer rate, total heat transfer coefficient, and thermal efficiency are calculated. The correlating equations are created for the total heat transfer coefficient depending on the cooling mode. The AL radiator is more efficient in terms of total heat transfer coefficient compared to the PL radiator, ranging from 15.3% to 66.4% for all cooling modes. The combination of F1 and F2 cooling modes resulted in more efficient heat dissipation from both radiators. In the combined cooling mode, with a ram air velocity of 10 m/s, the PL radiator achieved maximum thermal efficiency of 94.3% at the cooling time of 55 s. The full-aluminium radiator is suitable for high-performance applications.