Cooling Air Duct With Angled Air Guiding Element
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing cooling air ducts for motor vehicles fail to effectively cool temperature-sensitive components, such as vibration-damping flexible disks and electronic control units, which are overheated by the engine, leading to reduced durability and potential premature failure during driving.
Innovation Solution
A cooling air duct design featuring an air guiding element that deflects underbody airflow at an angle of more than 90 degrees towards heated components, utilizing a lower engine cover and an air guiding element with an upper surface sloping upwards and forwards, to direct cooler airflow and enhance heat dissipation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If the existing cooling air duct design is used, then the structure is simple, but the temperature-sensitive components are not effectively cooled and overheat
Solution Approach 1:
The air guiding element is divided into multiple functional surfaces: an upper surface that slopes upward and forward to deflect airflow, a lower surface, and side surfaces. This segmentation allows each surface to perform a specific airflow control function, effectively directing cool underbody air to heated components without requiring a completely redesigned duct system.
Solution Approach 2:
The air guiding element acts as an intermediary component between the underbody airflow and the heated components. It intercepts the cool underbody air and redirects it toward the engine and temperature-sensitive components, serving as a mediator that transfers cooling airflow from one location to another without requiring direct connection between the airflow source and the components.
2Productivity
If the air guiding element deflects underbody flow at more than 90 degrees, then cooling effectiveness increases, but the airflow path becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The air guiding element employs curved and sloping surfaces rather than sharp angles. The upper surface slopes upward and forward, creating a smooth airflow transition that achieves the required more than 90-degree deflection while maintaining laminar flow characteristics and reducing turbulence. This curvature approach allows effective cooling without excessively complex airflow paths.
3Temperature
If components are positioned to be cooled by underbody flow, then cooling is improved, but the components are exposed to engine heat
Solution Approach 1:
The air guiding element is positioned to intercept and redirect cool underbody airflow toward the heated components before the hot engine air can fully envelop them. This preliminary action of directing cool air to the components creates a protective cooling effect that counteracts the engine heat exposure, effectively managing the thermal environment of temperature-sensitive components.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design effectively cools temperature-sensitive components by directing cooler airflow to them, thereby increasing their durability and preventing premature failure even when the engine is under heavy load.
Implementation Method 1
an underbody flow of the airflow against the air guiding element 9 deflects at least part of the underbody flow 8 to the heated component 2, 3
Implementation Method 2
The turbulent airflow from the air guide element can dissipate the heat absorbed by the heated component more quickly
Implementation Method 3
The turbulent airflow from the air guide element can dissipate the heat absorbed by the heated component more quickly
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
The cooling air duct (1) has an air guiding element (9), which is arranged in the rear lower external area of the engine (4), which is not covered by the engine cover (5), and has upper area (11). The upper area is inclined diagonally upwards and forward in the drive direction (F). The heated component (3) is placed over and in the drive direction before the upper area of a wind guiding surface (10) of the air guiding element.