CFD Analysis for the Study of Automotive Underhood Aerodynamics and Thermal Management

The initial part of the given study involves numerical studies on the automotive underhood aero-thermal phenomena with a simple car model and a heat source fixed to it under the hood. As a further extension of the generic case, the second part involves numerical simulation of the same car model with a diffuser for the cooling improvement of the battery pack for HEVs. For cooling the battery pack surface, it is important to channel the flow of air without increasing the aerodynamic drag. Underbody diffuser is designed for this purpose. Thus, a battery pack build into angled surface of a diffuser is used. The diffuser will serve two purposes of reducing aerodynamic drag as well as underhood cooling. The diffuser surface, which in turn affects the battery surface, has more uniform temperatures and smaller hot spots than when there isn't a diffuser.