CFD simulations and experiments of fins to enhance heat transfer in air-cooled motorcycle engines
摘要
Various types of fins (such as triangular fins, circular/annular fins, and fins with extensions) are used to increase heat transfer in air-cooled motorcycle engines. The size and shape of fins have a significant effect on the efficiency of heat dissipation. Overall cooling performance can be improved by adding aftermarket fins, beryllium oxide, and graphene-based fin materials. Additive manufacturing (AM) enables the fabrication of complex fin designs that enhance heat transfer in air-cooled motorcycle engines, leading to improved engine performance. Inspired by the above achievements, experiments were conducted using flat fins in a 4-stroke SI engine motorcycle. ANSYS Fluent 15.0 package is used for CFD simulation considering both forced and natural convection phenomena. The Finalized model has 2,839,241 elements and 464,592 nodes. Fin tip static temperature decreases by 10.83% for forced convection with swirls compared to natural convection. The maximum total surface heat flux is 923 W m−2 K−1. The fins have a maximum heat transfer coefficient of 12 W m−2 K−1. CFD simulations were validated with test data of heat transfer coefficients. A comparative study is carried out by varying the shape of fins from rectangular to elliptical, and an 11.6% improvement in heat transfer rate is observed in elliptical fins over flat fins.