Numerical simulation for flow and heat transfer of engine coolant

For improving the engine cooling efficiency and reducing thermal load of high temperature components to realize the rational heat distribution and utilization, a numerical simulation of engine cooling system with computational fluid dynamics software AVl-FIRE was carried out for a four-cylinder engine to simulate the three-dimensional flow and heat transfer of cooling water in the engine jacket for optimization design. During the calculation, the heat transfer boundary of water jacket was determined following coupled liquid-solid theory, and the flow field of cooling water, the heat convection coefficient of the inner wall, the cooling uniformity of each cylinder and the whole pressure loss for the engine were analyzed. To realize the visualization of 3D flow field of the engine coolant, one to one scale 3D experimental part model of cooling jacket was constructed and its preparation scheme was also discussed according to the structural characters. Then the structural strength and pressure loss of the piping system were also simulated to verify the rationality of the design scheme.