Application of the Thermal Transient Anemometer (TTA) for Vehicular Shroud Analysis
Experimental efforts were conducted with the use of a Thermal Transient Anemometer (TTA) to analyze flow distributions exiting a vehicular radiator. These experiments were motivated by the interest to explore how modifications to the geometry of the vehicle’s shroud could potentially improve airflow across the face of the radiator. The TTA instrument is a frame composed of twenty-three cells that are capable of measuring the average velocity through the area of the cell. The twenty-three cells provide a velocity profile that spans across the outlet cross-section of the radiator.The experiments recorded in this paper consists of three configurations for analysis: (i) radiator-only, (ii) radiator with the stock shroud and (iii) radiator with a modified shroud. The design of the modified shroud was first modeled using ANSYS Fluent to confirm the potential improvements to the flow of the system. With the improvements confirmed, the modified shroud was then constructed with the use of additive manufacturing. The radiator was first tested and analyzed without a shroud connected to the outlet to determine the flow distribution of the system independent from shroud effects. This analysis consisted of an averaged airflow velocity range of 2.26 m/s - 7.00 m/s. The airflow velocity range was accomplished by changing the pressure difference from the ambient (atmospheric) conditions to the upper receiver of the Axial Fan Research and Development (AFRD) facility. Following, the stock shroud and modified shroud were attached to the radiator and the flow distribution for the two configurations were recorded. The stock shroud and modified shroud experiments yielded in an averaged airflow velocity range of 0.78 m/s - 3.04 m/s and 0.77 m/s - 2.98 m/s, respectively. The flow rate of the system did not have a significant change between the two shroud geometries. For each shroud’s measured flow rate, the curves tended to remain within the standard error envelope of each curve. The modified shroud was determined to increase the flow distribution with an improvement of the homogenization of the radiator’s outlet profile.
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- In Collections
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Electronic Theses & Dissertations
- Copyright Status
- In Copyright
- Material Type
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Theses
- Authors
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Wesley, Travis
- Thesis Advisors
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Mejia-Alvarez, Ricardo
- Committee Members
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Foss, John
Fan, Bei
Semel, Ronald
- Date Published
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2024
- Subjects
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Mechanical engineering
- Program of Study
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Mechanical Engineering - Master of Science
- Degree Level
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Masters
- Language
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English
- Pages
- 114 pages
- Permalink
- https://doi.org/doi:10.25335/ed3s-5a12