Underhood Buoyancy Driven Flow—An Experimental Study

Abstract

Particle image velocimetry and thermal measurements using thermocouples are used to measure the buoyant flow of a simplified full-scale model of an engine compartment. The engine block surface temperature and exhaust heaters are kept at about 100 and 600°C, respectively. Thermal measurements include enclosure surface temperature, temperature difference on the enclosure wall at midplane, engine block temperatures, and air temperatures under the hood. The highest surface temperatures were concentrated near the top of the enclosure around the exhaust heaters. This effect was due primarily to radiation from the exhaust heaters. Highest measured air temperature was about 300°C immediately above the right exhaust heater. The measured dominant flow structures are two larger counter rotating vortices over the top right side of the engine block and two counter rotating vortices over the top left side. These flow structures weaken considerably during the first 35 min of the transient cool down of the engine block and the exhaust heaters. Colder ambient air is sucked into the engine compartment at the vents near the bottom of the compartment with some exiting as hot air through the top slots. The time scale of the fluid exchange at the vents is in the order of seconds, indicating that this process is occurring very slowly.