Selección del material idóneo para mejorar la eficiencia de transferencia de calor en un radiador de vehículo Nissan Sentra, mediante simulación CFD

Abstract

The present work aims to describe the process of heat transfer from radiator by CFD simulation, mainly focused on the selection of materials with better thermal and mechanical properties for the transfer of thermal energy in an automotive radiator. The search for an alternative to aluminum, focuses not only on its thermal but also mechanical properties, however, these will not be reflected for the simulation since its mechanical properties are not needed for the transfer of thermal energy. Used a program with Ashby methodology for the choice of materials based on performance indices, as well as the radiator of a car was selected as a base to obtain its dimensions and create the 3D model using CAD-CAE software. Through CFD simulation software was obtained of an analysis how the radiator material influences the heat transfer of the coolant so that it reaches its optimum temperature. All things considered, the data obtained through the computational analysis of fluids shows how the beryllium alloy with a conductivity of 246 W/mK, had a better heat transfer than the aluminum 202 W/mK, even so, it obtained a good result, while the beryllium alloy called beralcast 310 (148W/mK), and magnesium alloy (136 W / mK) did not exceed a temperature difference of 3 ° C, which implies that they are not good options to be used in heat transfer processes.